Webster's English Dictionary

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preterit

pret.er.it or pret.er.ite \'pret-*-r*t\ aj [ME preterit, fr. MF, fr. L 
   praeteritus, fr. pp. of praeterireX to go by, pass, fr. praeter beyond, 
   past, by (fr. compar. of prae before) + ire to go - more at FOR, ISSUE 
   archaic  1: BYGONE, FORMER  2: of, relating to, or constituting a verb 
   tense that indicates action in  the past without reference to duration, 
   continuance, or repetition - preterit n