Formative of the past participle in some weak verbs, for earlier -d and -ed (see -ed suffix¹), due usually to the devocalization of d after a breath consonant, as in nipped, nip'd, nipt. In some verbs the use of t for -ed goes back to Germanic, esp. in apparently contracted or irregular verbs, as bought, brought, might, thought, wrought (Gothic bauht, brâht, maht, þâht, waurht); in others it appears in West Germanic, as sought (Gothic sôkid, Old Saxon and Old English sôht); in others only in Old English as laught (læht), taught (tæht, taht). But in the majority of cases the t is of later appearance, arising from the reduction of -ed to -'d, -d in Middle or Modern English, with consequent devocalization of d, not only after breath consonants, as in dropt, nipt, crept, slept, swept, left, lost, tost, past, but, in certain cases, after liquids and nasals, as in felt, spelt, spilt, dreamt, burnt, meant, pent; also in contracted formations, such as built, bent, lent, sent, spent, girt, cast. But in many words where the pronunciation has t, the current spelling is -ed, e.g. blessed, dropped, hushed, passed for blest, dropt, husht, past. See the article -ed suffix¹.

Formative of the past tense of some weak verbs, for earlier -te, -de, -ede (:—da, -ida, -eda). Parallel in formation to the preceding, and generally going along with it in Middle English, and identical in form in modern English; but in Old English a past tense in -te was sometimes used where the past participle retained the fuller -ed, as in cyssan to kiss, cyste, cyssed, settan to set, sette, seted (and sett). In modern English on the contrary the spelling in t is more frequent in the past participle, esp. when used adjectivally, than in the past tense: cf. tempest-tost (see tempest-tossed adj.), the wind tossed the ship; in time past, he passed his time. In some cases even the form in -ed is a mere modern fashion of spelling, at variance with both the pronunciation and the history; thus, kissed was in Old Saxon kusta, Old English cyste, Middle English kist, as actually pronounced; it has come to be spelt kissed, because in other verbs -ed is pronounced -t.

1. from verbs, going back to Germanic, and answering variously to the Indo-European suffixes -tos, -tā, -tis, -tus, the t of which remained in Teutonic, when preceded by a guttural, labial, or s; e.g. draught, drift, flight, frost, gift, heft, might, plight, shaft, shrift, slaught, thirst, thought, thrift, weft, etc. (in some of which the formation is later and imitative). In a few cases the t is a later English change of -þ after h, ȝ, as in sight (Old English siehþ), in which þ normally represented Indo-European t. See -th suffix¹.

2. from adjectives (or nouns), changed from earlier -þ, -th (in length, etc.) after h, ȝ, as height (Gothic hauhiþa, Old English híehþo, Middle English heiȝþe, highth); sleight (Old Norse slægþ, Middle English sleiȝþe); theft (Old English þiefþ, Middle English þiefþe); dreight (for dreighth, from dreiȝ, dree n.): here the suffix was Germanic -iþô: -iðô: Indo-European -tā. See -th suffix¹. Also dought (Old English duguþ:—*dugunþ), drought (Old English drûguþ, Scottish drouth), where the Old English suffix -uþ was for -unþ:—Indo-European -ntis.