past participle

American  

[past pahr-tuh-sip-uhl] / ˈpæst ˈpɑr təˌsɪp əl /

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.

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past participle British  

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

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Etymology

Origin of past participle

First recorded in 1790–1800

Example Sentences

Lately I’ve been doing a deep dive into the origins of English grammar, specifically the difference between past participle and present perfect.

From New York Times • Apr. 23, 2020

“Clad” is a past participle form and is not used as a transitive verb in this sense.

From New York Times • Dec. 23, 2014

It turned out that Pinker, who is also a celebrated linguist, had quoted her rare use of the past participle “stridden” to illustrate a grammatical point.

From The Guardian • Oct. 19, 2014

Jonathan, Birmingham "Gotten" is the past participle of "get" and a perfectly cromulent word.

From BBC • Jul. 20, 2011

Factum, the neuter past participle, means ‘that which has been done’.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton