aorist

[ey-uh-rist]

noun

1. a verb tense, as in Classical Greek, expressing action or, in the indicative mood, past action, without further limitation or implication.

adjective

1. of or in this tense.

aorist

/ ˈeɪərɪst, ˈɛərɪst /

noun

1. grammar a tense of the verb in classical Greek and in certain other inflected languages, indicating past action without reference to whether the action involved was momentary or continuous Compare perfect imperfect

Other Word Forms

• aoristically adverb
• aoristic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of aorist¹

1575–85; < Greek aóristos unlimited, equivalent to a- a- ⁶ + ( h ) oristós limited ( *horid- (base of horízein to bound, limit; horizon ) + -tos adj. suffix)

Word History and Origins

Origin of aorist¹

C16: from Greek aoristos not limited, from _a- ¹ + horistos restricted, from horizein to define

Example Sentences

After breakfast I went back to my room and began to work on the irregular second aorists.

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The middle and passive voices are alike except in two tenses, the future and the aorist.

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No new second aorists, we may be sure, were formed any more than new “strong” tenses, such as came or sang, can be formed in English.

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N. Note the change from the imperative to the aorist.

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Other forms which Greek has added to the original system are the pluperfect—in form a past of the perfect stem with aorist endings.

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