past participle

[ past pahr-tuh-sip-uhl ]

noun

, Grammar.

1. a participle with past or passive meaning, such as fallen, worked, caught, or defeated: used in English and some other languages as an adjective, as in a broken record, or along with an auxiliary to form perfect and passive verb constructions, as in We have eaten and He was wounded.

past participle

noun

1. a participial form of verbs used to modify a noun that is logically the object of a verb, also used in certain compound tenses and passive forms of the verb in English and other languages

Word History and Origins

Origin of past participle¹

First recorded in 1790–1800

Example Sentences

The past-participle is invariably te hard, and is not varied as in Irish.

From Project Gutenberg