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pastness

American  
[past-nis] / ˈpæst nɪs /

noun

  1. the state or fact of being past.


Etymology

Origin of pastness

First recorded in 1820–30; past + -ness


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

"And that process too is the process whereby the pain of the past in its pastness is converted to the future tense of joy."

From Salon ● Sep. 17, 2022

Eliot put it nearly a century ago, the historical sense “involves a perception, not only of the pastness of the past, but of its presence.”

From Los Angeles Times ● May 25, 2017

Eliot called a sense “not only of the pastness of the past, but of its presence.”

From Washington Post ● May 3, 2017

Last June, when its fourth season concluded, “The Americans” was a series about the pastness of the past.

From The New Yorker ● Mar. 7, 2017

I think of the pastness of the past: how the moment I am alive in, prisoned in, moves like a slowly tumbling form through darkness, the underground river.

From "Grendel" by John Gardner

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