Hypertext Webster Gateway: "preterite"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Preterite \Pret"er*ite\, a. & n.
Same as {Preterit}.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Preterit \Pret"er*it\ (?; 277), a. [L. praeteritus, p. p. of
praeterire to go or pass by; praeter beyond, by + ire to go:
cf. F. pr['e]t['e]rit. See {Issue}.] [Written also
{preterite} and {pr[ae]terite}.]
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. --Lowell.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
preterite
adj : (grammar) a verb tense used to relate past action; "the
preterite tense" [syn: {preterit}]
n : a term formerly used to refer to the simple past tense [syn:
{preterit}]
Additional Hypertext Webster Gateway Lookup
Gateway by dict@stokkie.net
stock only wrote the gateway and does not have any control over the contents;
see the Webster Gateway FAQ,
and also the Back-end/database links and credits.