Pret"er*it (?; 277), a. [L. praeteritus, p. p. of praeterire to go or pass by; praeter beyond, by + ire to go: cf. F. prétérit. See Issue.] [Written also preterite and præterite.] 1. (Gram.) Past; -- applied to a tense which expresses an action or state as past.

2. Belonging wholly to the past; passed by. [R.]

Things and persons as thoroughly preterite as Romulus or Numa.

Pret"er*it, n. (Gram.) The preterit; also, a word in the preterit tense.

Spanish
• Preterite tense.