preterit
or pret·er·ite
[ pret-er-it ]
/ ˈprɛt ər ɪt /
noun Grammar.
adjective
Origin of preterit
1300–50; Middle English < Latin
praeteritus past, past participle of
praeterīre to go by, equivalent to
praeter-
preter- +
-i-, base of
īre to go +
-tus past participle suffix; as tense name < Latin (
tempus)
praeteritum
OTHER WORDS FROM preterit
pret·er·it·ness, nounWords nearby preterit
pretensive,
pretentious,
preter-,
preterhuman,
preterist,
preterit,
preterite,
preterition,
preteritive,
preterlegal,
preterm
Example sentences from the Web for preterite
British Dictionary definitions for preterite
preterite
US preterit
grammar
noun
a tense of verbs used to relate past action, formed in English by inflection of the verb, as jumped, swam
a verb in this tense
adjective
denoting this tense
Word Origin for preterite
C14: from Late Latin
praeteritum (
tempus) past (time, tense), from Latin
praeterīre to go by, from
preter- +
īre to go