preterit Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a term formerly used to refer to the simple past tense
    preterite.

WordNet

Pret"er*it adjective
Etymology
L. praeteritus, p. p. of praeterire to go or pass by; praeter beyond, by + ire to go: cf. F. prétérit. See Issue.
Definitions
  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.
Pret"er*it noun
Definitions
  1. (Gram.) The preterit; also, a word in the preterit tense.

Webster 1913