aorist

American  

[ay-uh-rist] / ˈeɪ ə rɪst /

noun

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

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adjective

1. of or in this tense.

aorist British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

• aoristic
  adjective
• aoristically
  adverb

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Etymology

Origin of aorist

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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

aorist

The middle moods, or voices, in the Greek and Indian dialects are alike; they make the imperfect past, or aorist, in a similar manner.

From Personal Memoirs of a Residence of Thirty Years with the Indian Tribes on the American Frontiers by Henry Rowe Schoolcraft

It is used in the first four tenses; but the potential imperfect is properly an aorist: its time is very indeterminate; as, "He would be devoid of sensibility were he not greatly satisfied."

From The Grammar of English Grammars by Goold Brown

In the following pair of quotations, vixi, the aorist form, is translated I have lived, while tetigit, the perfect form, is translated he touched.

From A Handbook of the English Language by R. G. (Robert Gordon) Latham

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

From A Greek Primer For Beginners in New Testament Greek by Wallace Stearns

One form alone was available to express those modifications which are indicated by the imperfect, perfect, pluperfect, and aorist tenses of the classical languages.

From Story of Creation as Told By Theology and By Science by T. S. (Thomas Suter) Ackland

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