preterit

Pret"er*it, a. Etym: [L. praeteritus, p. p. of praeterire to go or pass by; praeter beyond, by + ire to go: cf. F. prétérit. See Issue.] [Written also preterite and præterite.] 1. (Gram.) Defn: Past; -- applied to a tense which expresses an action or state as past. 2. Belonging wholly to the past; passed by. [R.] Things and persons as thoroughly preterite as Romulus or Numa. Lowell. Pret"er*it, n. (Gram.) Defn: The preterit; also, a word in the preterit tense.

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