preterit

or pret·er·ite

[ pret-er-it ]

/ ˈprɛt ər ɪt /

noun Grammar.

past (def. 12).

a preterit tense.

a verb form in this tense.

adjective

Grammar. noting a past action or state.

Archaic. bygone; past.

QUIZZES

DISCOVER THE INFLUENCE OF PORTUGUESE ON ENGLISH VIA THIS QUIZ!

We’ve gathered some interesting words donated to English from Portuguese … as well as some that just don’t translate at all. Do you know what they mean?

Question 1 of 11

Which of the following animal names traces its immediate origin to Portuguese?

owl

crow

piranha

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of preterit

1300–50; Middle English <Latin praeteritus past, past participle of praeterīre to go by, equivalent to praeter-preter- + -i-, base of īre to go + -tus past participle suffix; as tense name <Latin (tempus) praeteritum

OTHER WORDS FROM preterit

pret·er·it·ness, noun

Words nearby preterit

pretensive, pretentious, preter-, preterhuman, preterist, preterit, preterite, preterition, preteritive, preterlegal, preterm

Example sentences from the Web for preterit

In this Latinism the preterit denotes that a thing or condition that once existed no longer exists.
Modern Spanish Lyrics|Various
The preterit of the optative is formed by placing mono vo after the negative future; e.g., aguru mai mono vo 'oh!
Diego Collado's Grammar of the Japanese Language|Diego Collado
The preterit singular and past participle of Class I end in -ede and -ed, or -de and -ed respectively.
Anglo-Saxon Grammar and Exercise Book|C. Alphonso Smith
Caita qi means 'a written book' and caita is the preterit of the verb caqi,u I write.'
Diego Collado's Grammar of the Japanese Language|Diego Collado

Yo is the sign of the present, ni of the preterit, di is the pronoun; the other two words, to sin and to be: I was sinning.
The Philosophic Grammar of American Languages, as Set Forth by Wilhelm von Humboldt|Daniel G. Brinton

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