pluperfect

American  

[ploo-pur-fikt] / pluˈpɜr fɪkt /

noun

Grammar.

1. Also past perfect a verb construction, in English made up of the past tense auxiliary verb had followed by the past participle of the main verb, used to express an action or state that was already complete before a particular point of reference in the past, such as He had cleaned the place up before I arrived and Yesterday she told me she had been in the hospital for a week.

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adjective

1. Grammar. null past perfect designating a verb construction used to express an action or state that was already complete before a particular point of reference in the past.

2. more than perfect.

   He spoke the language with pluperfect precision.

pluperfect British  

/ pluːˈpɜːfɪkt /

adjective

1. grammar another term for past perfect

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Etymology

Origin of pluperfect

First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin plū(s quam) perfectum “(more than) perfect,” translation of Greek hypersyntelikós; plus ( def. ), perfect ( def. )