PRETERIT
PRE'TERIT, adjective [Latin proeteritus, proetereo; proeter, beyond, and eo, to go.] Past; applied to the tense in grammar which expresses an action or being perfectly past or f...
American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828.
4.856 entries
PRE'TERIT, adjective [Latin proeteritus, proetereo; proeter, beyond, and eo, to go.] Past; applied to the tense in grammar which expresses an action or being perfectly past or f...
PRETERI'TION, noun [Latin proeterio, to pass by.]1. The act of going past; the state of being past.2. In rhetoric, a figure by which, in pretending to pass over any thing, we ma...
PRE'TERITNESS, noun [from preterit.] The state of being past. [Little used.]
PRETERLAPS'ED, adjective [Latin proeterlapsus, proeterlabor; proeter and labor, to glide.] Past; gone by; as preterlapsed ages.
PRETERLE'GAL, adjective [Latin proeter and legal.] Exceeding the limits of law; not legal. [Little used.]
PRETERMIS'SION. noun [Latin proetermissio, from proetermitto.]A passing by; omission.1. In rhetoric, the same as preterition.
PRETERMIT', verb transitive [Latin proetermitto; proeter, beyond, and mitto, to send.] To pass by; to omit.
PRETERNAT'URAL, adjective [Latin proeter and natural.] Beyond what is natural, or different from what is natural; irregular. We call those events in the physical world preternat...
PRETERNATURAL'ITY, noun Preternaturalness. [Little used.]
PRETERNAT'URALLY, adverb In a manner beyond or aside from the common order of nature; as vessels of the body preternaturally distended.
PRETERNAT'URALNESS, noun A state or manner different from the common order of nature.
PRETERPER'FECT, adjective [Latin proeter and perfectus.] Literally, more than complete or finished; an epithet equivalent to preterit, applied to the tense of verbs which expres...
PRETERPLUPER'FECT, adjective [Latin proeter, beyond, plus, more, and perfectus, perfect.] Literally, beyond more than perfect; an epithet designating the tense of verbs which ex...
PRETEX', verb transitive [Latin proetexo; proe and texo, or tego, texui.]To cloak; to conceal. [Not used.]
PRETEXT', noun [Latin proetextus.] Pretense; false appearance; ostensible reason or motive assigned or assumed as a color or cover for the real reason or motive. He gave plausib...
PRE'TOR, noun [Latin proetor, from the root of proe, before.]Among the ancient Romans, a judge; an officer answering to the modern chief justice or chancellor, or to both. In la...
PRETO'RIAL, adjective Pertaining to a pretor or judge; judicial.
PRETO'RIAN, adjective Belonging to a pretor or judge; judicial; exercised by the pretor; as pretorian power or authority.Pretorian bands or guards, in Roman history, were the em...
PRE'TORSHIP, noun The office of pretor.
PRETTILY, adverb prit'tily. [from pretty.] In a pretty manner; with neatness and taste; pleasingly; without magnificence or splendor; as a woman prettily dressed; a parterre pre...
PRETTINESS, noun prit'tiness. [from pretty.]1. Diminutive beauty; a pleasing form without stateliness or dignity; as the prettiness of the face; the prettiness of a bird or othe...
PRETTY, adjective prit'ty.1. Having diminutive beauty; of a pleasing form with the strong lines of beauty, or without gratefulness and dignity; as a pretty face; a pretty person...
PRETYP'IFIED, participle passive [from pretypify.] Antecedently represented by type; prefigured.
PRETYP'IFY, verb transitive [pre and typify.] To prefigure; to exhibit previously in a type.
PRETYP'IFYING, participle present tense Prefiguring.
PREVA'IL, verb intransitive [Latin proevaleo; proe, before, and valeo, to be strong or well. Valeo seems to be from the same root as the Eng. well. The primary sense is to stret...
PREVA'ILING, participle present tense Gaining advantage, superiority or victory; having effect; persuading; succeeding.1.adjective Predominant; having more influence; prevalent;...