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pastadj.n. Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: English past. Etymology: < past, past participle of pass v. With use as adjective, compare classical Latin praeteritus preterite adj. With use as noun, compare Middle French, French passé (use as noun of past participle of passer pass v.) times gone by, events which have happened in the past (a1500), past tense (1550). Compare passed n., passed adj.In branch A. I. originally the perfect tense of pass v. (compare sense 11b at that entry), formed, as in other verbs of motion, with be instead of have (compare be v. 16b); the perfect is attested slightly earlier than other tenses of the verb in this use. The form passed is occasionally used in modern English verse as a disyllable. A. adj. I. Predicatively after be. c1300 St. Brendan (Harl.) 211 in C. Horstmann (1887) 225 (MED) Tuelf-monþ hit [is] ipassed nou þat ȝe gonne out wende. a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden (St. John's Cambr.) (1882) VIII. 59 When þe ȝere were i-passed, he sent to Rome. a1400 (a1325) (Trin. Cambr.) (1887) App. XX. 876 (MED) Of grace twelf hundred & sixtene þer to ȝeres were ipassed ar þis were ido. c1400 (c1378) W. Langland (Laud 581) (1869) B. xviii. 133 (MED) Sith þis barn was bore, ben xxxti wynter passed. a1425 (c1395) (Royal) (1850) Job xvii. 11 Mi daies ben passid. a1500 (?c1400) (Cambr.) (1937) 799 (MED) The nyȝt was paste, þe day was come. 1526 Rom. iii. 25 He forgeveth the synnes thatt are passed [mispr. passhed]. c1540 (?a1400) 10133 When paste was the pes, parties were gedirt ffro the tenttes & the toun. 1593 W. Shakespeare sig. D My dayes delight is past, my horse is gone. View more context for this quotation 1611 1 Sam. xv. 32 Agag said, Surely the bitternesse of death is past . View more context for this quotation 1785 W. Cowper i. 639 The dream is past; and thou hast found again Thy..homestall thatched with leaves. 1842 Ld. Tennyson Vision of Sin in (new ed.) II. 216 What! the flower of life is past. 1894 W. Archer 224 The time is past for the elementary Manicheism on which The Tempter is based. 1900 W. Robinson (ed. 8) 516/1 The old Mezereon.., whose leafless branches are often wreathed with fragrant blossoms before winter is past. 1937 Apr. 130/3 Each spring, when danger of frost is past, I set the plants in a semi-shady spot in the garden. 1992 Mar. 34/1 Dahlias should not be planted out until all danger of night frost is past. 2001 28 Aug. 12/3 This is the week when the holiday season is past. II. As postmodifier (originally the past participle of pass v. in a non-finite clause) and attributive. the world > time > relative time > the past > [adjective] the world > time > relative time > the past > [adjective] > just passed the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > end or conclusion > [adjective] > come or brought to an end α. 1340 (1866) 59 On is preterit..of þinge ypassed. a1393 J. Gower (Fairf.) Prol. 55 Long tyme in olde daies passed. a1425 (c1385) G. Chaucer (1987) iii. 1407 For to recoveren blisse and ben at eise, And passed wo with joie contrepeise. a1500 ( J. Yonge tr. (Rawl.) (1898) 157 (MED) Who-so nothynge thynkyth of thyngis y-passet, a sote and a fole he shall be callid. 1569 R. Grafton II. 761 Things passed cannot be called agayne. 1586 A. Day xi. 246 Who..will in no wise be intreated so muche as to looke backe on my passed euilles. 1678 I. Walton 53 This Relation of my pass'd thoughts. a1740 J. Brereton To Nehemiah Griffin in (1744) 28 You..our pass'd Woes relate. 1781 W. Cowper 256 While danger passed is turned to present joy. a1821 J. Keats Stanzas in (1829) 19 Sept. 618/3 But were there ever any Writhed not at passed joy? 1880 W. Watson 10 His Passèd summers told beyond a score. 3. c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. xvii. 368 As ich tolde þe..a lytel tyme passed. 1444 V. 117/2 As thay used to bye hem a xx or xxx yere past. 1515 Bp. West in H. Ellis (1846) 3rd Ser. I. 182 He that in a lytell tyme past myght spend a hundreth poundes by yere, may nott att thys day spend xxti. 1566 in E. Peacock (1866) 45 Item an Idoll of all halowes—cut in peces by Mr. william ffearnes a year past. 1626 D. Skinner Let. 27 Oct. in W. D. Hamilton (1859) 131 I am tould that the Marquise Spinola is 2 dayes past come to Dunkerke in person. 1654 W. Sclater, Jr. Ep. Ded. sig. A2 Above twenty years last past..you erected, and ever since continued, at your own proper cost, an Arabick Lecture. 1722 E. Thomas 20 But now twelve Cent'ries past, I've cause to mourn To see my Virgil's Works thus maul'd and torn. 1790 153 Some numbers past it was announced in this publication, that [etc.]. 1830 E. B. Pusey ii. 135 According to a plan prescribed a hundred or more years past. 1889 ‘M. Twain’ xix. 234 Now ye shall wit that that very duke and his six sons are they whom but few days past you also did overcome and send to Arthur's court! 1931 E. Ferber x. 211 There's the tenant house, empty these years past. 1980 W. Valgardson vii. 75 Close to the river a broad swathe of land had been cleared some years past, then allowed to grow over. 1994 Feb. 56/3 My own shop teacher from twenty years past was Mr. Talania. 2000 A. Ghosh (2001) ii. 22 The expeditions that had been sent into the Shan highlands in years past. the world > time > relative time > the past > [adjective] > just passed > of time or order ?c1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac (Paris) (1971) 117 The firste [process] is fulfilled by þe forsaide gouernaunce in þe chapitles last passed [?a1425 N.Y. Acad. Med. next passed; L. proxime preteritis]. c1429 (1986) l. 4305 The passid chapitle shewed vs the last examynacioune. 1476 in E. Hobhouse (1890) 5 (MED) Comes the Wardence and bryng in a bille of their cost done the yere past..xxxiij s. vij d. 1588 R. Parke tr. J. G. de Mendoza 176 Of whom wee made mention in the Chapter past. 1665 R. Boyle Disc. iv. v, in sig. F6 If you should imagine, that in the pass'd Discourse I have [etc.]. 1685 H. Crispe in A. Behn et al. 38 She'l sweeten all the cares of the past day at night. 1714 J. Ayliffe II. iii. i. 133 The Vice-Chancellor closes the Act in a solemn speech; wherein it is usual for him to commemorate the Transactions of the Year past, and especially such Benefactions as have been given to the University. 1764 T. Legg (ed. 3) 40 Journeymen Bakers..are casting up what Dead-Men they cheated their Masters of the past Week. 1803 I. xv. 241 On the past day Adelfrid..had departed into Deïri. 1891 T. Hardy I. xii. 156 I have walked hundreds of miles during this past summer. 1909 R. Kipling (1910) 258 I had spent the week past among our plague~stricken. 1933 15 Mar. 15/2 During the past week the Nazi steam-roller has passed over every one of the seventeen Federal States of the Reich. 1970 24 Sept. 1/1 The number of family units on the welfare rolls has more than doubled in the past year. 2000 Dec. 38/4 There has also appeared during the past year a novel about Vermeer—The Girl with the Pearl Earring. the world > time > relative time > the past > [adjective] > just passed > preceding this or the last (day, etc.) a1500 (Trin. Cambr.) 6182 (MED) The tewisday passed Aforne penticost..Thys full goodly knyght yild tho vp his goste. 1821 J. Clare II. 88 It seems but Sunday past Since we went out together for the last. 1875 L. Larcom xi. 150 Everything Ruth had to tell was of the Monday past. 1988 A. Warner 142 The barman pointed to a space by the window... He goes, It was there till Saturday past. 1999 R. L. Melammed iii. 57 She had observed these practices for about nine years but had discontinued as of Easter past. 1604 in J. Stuart (1848) II. 256 To pay..the soume of four pundis, for the proffitt of the said soume for the half-yeir past. 1657 A. Sparrow (1661) 50 These..have been viewed and allowed by the Church..for many ages past. 1732 G. Berkeley I. i. i. 3 For several Months past I have enjoy'd such Liberty. 1756 T. Amory I. 411 He has been for a year and a half last past in Italy. 1803 10 212 Drier..than it has been for some years past. 1894 G. Moore 179 Esther admitted that she had for some time past neglected her religion. 1934 J. Joyce 13 Aug. (1966) III. 317 I have a fit of ague for the past 24 hours... O Lord, the one day I feel so shivery~shaky! 1991 S. Hill viii. 164 Georgiana opened the doors of the window that let onto the garden and went out, lighter of heart than for weeks past. 1993 P. Ackroyd 35 Ferdinand Griffen..had for many years past been buried deep in his rare studies. the world > time > period > a month or calendar month > [adjective] > of last month 1666 W. Temple 6 Mar. (1700) I. 33 In your Lordship's of the 21st past, I find not the least Mention of any Letters received from me. 1678 Ld. Conway Let. 30 Oct. in M. H. Nicolson (1992) vii. 443 I receaved Monsieur Van Helmonts Letter of the 5th past with yours enclos'd to my Brother Rawdon. 1702 No. 3858/4 A Watch..was dropt the 14th past near Goodman Peacock's Farm. 1766 Ld. Chesterfield 14 Aug. (1932) (modernized text) VI. 2755 I received yesterday your letter of the 30th past. 1789 B. Franklin Let. 3 Aug. in 1170 Dear Sister, I have receiv'd your kind Letter of the 23rd past. the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > tense > [noun] > past the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > tense > [adjective] > past 1729 T. Cooke 204 I am certain that the passed Tenses of sit and see, which are sat and saw, will not be well sounding if this Rule is observed. 1753 J. Bevis 10 The past tense generally ends in -ed as, I danced. 1823 Ld. Byron xl. 75 The past tense, The dreary ‘Fuimus’ of all things human. 1904 C. T. Onions §118 In the earlier period of Old English..the Past tense form had the meanings of the Past, Past Imperfect, Present Perfect, and Pluperfect of Latin. 1976 H. MacInnes xxviii. 286 No need to think anything. It's all past tense now. 1990 Dec. 67/2 If it snowed at Christmas, we'd make a snowman... It is a past form of the first conditional. (It did not always snow, but when it did, we made a snowman.) 2002 11 Feb. ii. 31/4 A few of Margaret's close friends [were filmed], all speaking of her in the past tense. the world > time > relative time > the past > antecedence or being earlier > [adjective] > former (of persons) 1915 W. S. Maugham x. 34 Its [sc. the school's] headmaster was an honorary Canon, and a past headmaster was the Archdeacon. 1930 16 Aug. 10/3 The Brewers' Society, of which I am a past-Chairman and a member of the Committee, has already expressed its considered views, through its accredited representatives. 1983 W. N. Rowe xii. 171 To prevent the law from falling into disrepute..is the bounden duty of one who is a King's Counsellor, a Master of the Supreme Court, and a past Treasurer of the Law Society. 1992 Dec. 24/2 Mr. Reg Stevenson, a past commodore of the Royal St. Lawrence Yacht Club. B. n. 1. Chiefly with the. the world > time > relative time > the past > oldness or ancientness > [phrase] > that which is old-fashioned or obsolete a1500 tr. A. Chartier (Rawl.) (1974) 120 (MED) Passid [Fr. le passé] is now taken from theim and to come thei abide for to come. c1530 W. Walter sig. Biii Loue hath the made for to be agast That wysedome and vertue is clerely from the past. 1609 W. Shakespeare cxxiii. sig. H2v Not wondring at the present, nor the past . View more context for this quotation a1678 A. Marvell Poem upon Death O. C. 285 in (1681) 151 As long as future time succeeds the past, Always thy honour, praise and name shall last. 1739 D. Hume I. iii. 239 An experiment in the past proves at least a possibility for the future. 1743 A. Pope (new ed.) ii. 52 Then see how little the remaining sum, Which serv'd the past, and must the times to come. 1817 Ld. Byron i. i. 14 We are eternal; and to us the past Is, as the future, present. 1850 July 1/2 449 The Republic of Liberia, like Hayti, would soon be a thing of the past. 1871 S. Smiles vii. 201 Men of a comparatively remote past. 1914 E. R. Burroughs xviii. 248 He had been too preoccupied with his own scholarly thoughts in the past. 1977 C. Allen i. 21/2 By the 1880s the discomfort of travelling by palkee (palanquin)..was already becoming a thing of the past. 2002 Feb. 20/3 The U.S. shows no sign of reinstituting the extremely restrictive immigration laws of the past. the world > time > relative time > the past > [noun] the world > time > relative time > the past > [noun] > that which happened in the past 1589 G. Puttenham iii. xix. 205 In matter of counsell or perswasion we..doe compare the past with the present, gathering probabilitie of like successe to come in the things wee haue presently in hand. 1651 T. Hobbes i. ii. 3 After great distance of time, our imagination of the Past is weak; and wee lose (for example) of Cities wee have seen, many particular Streets. 1665 G. Thomson (title) Λοιμοτομια; or the Pest Anatomized. 1703 M. Chudleigh 3 All was forgot, as if in Lethe's Stream I'd quench my Thirst, the past was all a Dream. 1792 C. Smith II. 254 The present suspence, dreadful as it is, has given her leave to look back on the past. 1811 W. R. Spencer 7 Oh, Mother! past is past! 'tis o'er. 1892 B. F. Westcott 18 No repentance on earth can undo the past. 1924 J. Galsworthy i. i. 1 His lively, twisting mind, embedded in deposits of the past, sceptical of the present. 1960 C. Day Lewis i. 18 When I was younger, in revolt against ‘the family’ and society in general, I wished to travel light, unencumbered by the past. 1996 I. Donnachie et al. 103 Those characters who are trying to maintain the status quo and forget the past. 1812 Nov. 117 The Romans had begun already to live in the past, and to make pensive reflections on the faded glory of mankind. 1862 W. Collins II. iv. xi. 348 Still she sat, tearless and quiet, dead to the present and the future, living in the past. 1872 C. D. Warner 92 The city lives in the past still, and on its memories, keeping its old walls and moat entire. 1905 Baroness Orczy xvi The present is not so glorious but that I should not wish to dwell a little in the past. 1926 J. Galsworthy iii. v. 250 He lived for a cosey moment in the past again, as might some retired old cricketer taking block once more. 1967 113 176/1 What is usually termed ‘living in the past’ develops and various manifestations of wishful thinking occur. 1990 J. Francome 155 The idea that she should risk her future by dwelling in the past, raking over the cooling embers of his life in order to discover who killed him and why would have enraged him. 2003 (Nexis) 8 Sept. b5 Anybody who thinks it's easy to work your way through college these days is living in the past. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) ii. i. 258 An act Whereof, what's past is Prologue; what to come In yours, and my discharge. View more context for this quotation] 1943 July 82/2 The past is prologue, the present is calamity, and the future will take care of itself. 1959 C. Ellis in J. King Introd. p. viii Nothing could demonstrate that the ‘Past is Prologue’ better than a ruling of the Comptroller General of the United States in this year of 1958. For that ruling is merely a reiteration of the arguments of the special interests which [etc.]. 1962 16 Feb. 11/5 The past was a prologue and it gave a sense of confidence in the future, Mr. Kennedy said. 1975 (Nexis) 17 Feb. (Internat. Business section) 38 The past is by no means prologue in the auto industry, but many car makers see continued hard times. 2003 7 Aug. (Loudoun Extra) t2 If past is prologue, these are the identical purveyors of distrust who invited farmers and other landowners of western Loudoun..to similar ‘land-use friendly’ meetings and then ignored their pleas. the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > tense > [noun] > past 1783 H. Blair I. ix. 162 An aörist, or indefinite past. 1845 J. Stoddart Gram. in (1847) I. 57/1 The present imperfect implies something of the past, and something of the future. 1876 C. C. Robinson p. xlii Think..(Thuongk) The last form is less employed participially than in the past, in which tense it is of constant occurrence. 1927 E. A. Sonnenschein §108 The meaning of simple priority to the time of speaking is expressed..in English by the Past. 1959 I. Gershwin 343 ‘Got’ as the past of ‘get’ generally means ‘acquired’ or ‘achieved’. 1991 66 296 These percentages of the simple verb form in the past were much lower than those for the simple present. the world > life > source or principle of life > age > [noun] > period or stage of life > specific 1827 Ld. Byron i. ii. 25 In another day What is shall be the past of Belus' race. 1836 J. H. Newman (1837) III. xxii. 366 Is it never maintained, that a Christian Minister is off his past? 1890 R. Kipling in July 28 The Lords of Life and Death would never allow Charlie Mears to speak with full knowledge of his pasts. 1919 J. Conrad iv. i I had an idea that he had had a lurid past and had seen some fighting in his youth. 1961 F. Leiber vii. 57 It's sweet to jigger reality, to twist the whole course of a man's life or a culture's, to ink out his or its past and scribble in a new one. 2002 C. M. Byron viii. 115 Her past wasn't exactly convent white. She'd been married three times, and..romantically linked with a range of celebs. Compounds C1. General attributive. 1939 S. Spender 24 In the past-coloured pigment of the mind's eye They feed and fly and dwell. 1939 L. MacNeice 18 The final cure is not in his past-dissecting fingers. 1762 L. Sterne VI. xxi. 89 Chatting..upon past-done deeds. 1822 C. Lloyd iii. i. 136 I see his spirit has its..reveries Of past-done things. C2. 1912 2 282 The Committee's recommendation was to call this tense past continuous or imperfect. 1924 24 23 In all Dinka tenses, except the Pres. Continuous and Past Continuous, the Direct Object..is placed between the tense particle and the verb root. 1952 36 280/2 In this sentence tenía expresses a past continuous condition. 1999 W. Soyinka ii. 132 He wrote of Egyptian glory, the pyramids and the sphinxes from which the black American glimpsed a vanished nobility, but in the African past continuous, especially the cultural, he seemed blissfully disinterested. the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > tense > [adjective] > other specific tenses 1904 25 443 As a past-future, or, more precisely, a past-future-perfect, it is necessarily subjunctive. 1961 R. B. Long v. 127 Progressive-aspect forms..sometimes emphasize..in past-perfect and past-future tenses closeness to a past time that is central in the attention at the moment. 2001 (Nexis) 12 79 We see the temporal logic of the past future at work in his thinking of the potential transcendence of the face-to-face relation. 1923 38 179 The treatment of the regular conjugations is in the main like that of other books, with a break from the old tense names..to the newer..terminology of Past Descriptive.., Past Historic, etc. 1958 J. Wilson v. 56 The Christian belief in the Creation, as expressed in the statement ‘God made the world’... We treat the statement as referring to an event, assuming ‘made’ to be used, as normally, in the past historic tense. 1977 C. K. Stead in J. Pilditch (1996) iv. 163 Its tense is almost exclusively past historic which, because it makes each action finite and exclusive, is hardly different in effect from present tense narration. 1999 M. Hawcroft iv. 105 The imperfect tense perhaps suggests that the pleasures are not necessarily over for good in the way that the past historic would have done. 1758 J. Ward iv. 99 The past imperfect tense is formed of the auxiliary verb did and the theme, or of the auxiliary verb was and the present participle; and denotes an action as doing at some past time. 1770 I. Hodgson 69 These Times may be subdivided into imperfect and perfect, viz...the Past imperfect, as I loved, was loving, or did love. 1839 XIII. 314/1 The past-imperfect and aorist tenses of the Greek verb. 1844 T. H. Key 124 It seems not improbable that the past imperfects of the Latin language have for their suffix..a past tense of habeo formed upon the model of era-m. 1904 C. T. Onions §118 In the earlier period of Old English..the Past tense form had the meanings of the Past, Past Imperfect, Present Perfect, and Pluperfect of Latin. 1978 5 384 According to Clay, gabasik is the third-person singular, past-imperfect form of -vasik. 2014 98 1054/1 Laval focuses on transfer-of-training effects, namely the ability to improve in French subjunctive as a result of training on the French past imperfect. the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > a part of speech > verb > [adjective] > participial > past 1881 2 294 An example of the past-participial infinitive. 1961 R. B. Long xviii. 406 Latin past-participial stems are commonly marked..by the use of either the letter t or the letter s. 2002 (Nexis) 21 Dec. 13 Nativity comes into English from the Latin verb nasci, ‘to be born’. Its past participial stem gives us the core of the word ‘nation’. the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > a part of speech > verb > [noun] > participle > types of 1798 J. H. Tooke (ed. 2) I. viii. 263 The adjective Less and the comparative Less are the imperative..; and the superlative Least is the past participle. 1870 F. Hall 137 [Karnâ], following an uninflected past participle, forms a frequentative. 1937 36 474 The strong vowel is divided into classes..according to the vowel of the past and ignoring the past participle vowel. 2002 (Nexis) 13 Dec. 22 A verb has three principal parts: the base form, the simple past, and the past participle. the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > tense > [adjective] > past > with specific aspect 1868 S. Kerl 133 The subjunctive mood has three tenses: the present, the past, and the past-perfect. 1889 23 Nov. 343 The form ‘scripsi’, the traditional ‘past-perfect’, was now called ‘present perfect’; ‘scripseram’ was called past-perfect. 1989 3 15/1 Another..change that seems to be taking place in American English these days is the gradual abandonment of the past perfect (pluperfect) tense. society > authority > control > person in control > [noun] > one who presides > over an institution or society > past 1859 Mar. 556/2 Any past President of the United States. 1903 12 Feb. 348/2 James Glaisher..was also a past-president of the Royal Meteorological Society. 2000 18 May 20/1 Saxon is an activist for the Design Build Foundation and is a past president of the British Council for Offices. 1899 15 Mar. 6/1 There will be no valuation or past profit statement. 2002 (Nexis) 13 Dec. 55 This would put Omnia on a 4p:e and 10,8% dividend yield which, despite past profit volatility, adds up to solid value. 1870 E. H. Magill iii. 400 The e mute counts for nothing in the measure in the verbal ending aient in the past progressive and conditional. 1874 J. Mulligan iii. 95 The compound tense, expressive of past progressive action, which usually represents the imperfect of other languages, cannot be properly used here. 1935 19 248 Although for pedagogical reasons a separate rule for the past progressive function might be retained, the above [rule] would..also cover this use, for the past progressive always implies simultaneity of at least two past events or conditions. 2001 (Nexis) 44 The use of past progressive forms in past tense contexts cannot be regarded as incorrect... The present tense form of the auxiliary is used for present progressive and the imperfect form of the auxiliary is used for past progressive. the world > time > relative time > the past > oldness or ancientness > [adjective] > old-fashioned or antiquated 1889 J. J. Hissey 89 These past-time inns..how they delight the eye of the nineteenth century traveller. 1996 80 271/1 Painting a verbal picture of past-time events and feelings. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2005; most recently modified version published online June 2022). pastprep.adv. Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymons: English past , pass v. Etymology: < past, past participle of pass v. With sense A. 1a compare Old French, French passé beyond in time, after (12th cent. in Old French in isolated use; subsequently from the 17th cent.).In prepositional use probably arising out of the perfect tense of transitive uses of pass v. 1b, 2, 10a, 12 s.v.), formed with be instead of have (compare be v. 16b); be was frequently used as the auxiliary of the perfect tense even when the verb was transitive, as in the examples given below. In such cases it is possible to substitute for the past participle the preposition beyond (as expressing the result of passing); whence it was natural to treat past as = ‘beyond’ in other contexts.c1300 St. Christopher (Harl.) 52 in F. J. Furnivall Early Eng. Poems & Lives Saints (1862) 61 Þo he þe croice ipassed was, he tournde aȝe to þe clene. ▸ a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1879) VII. 487 Whanne þey were unneþes i-passed A reden [v.r. reedy] marys..þe eorle of Chestre spak to his men.c1400 Life St. Alexius (Laud 622) (1878) 283 Þe Cee of grece passed he is.a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1897–1973) 90 I am old..passed I am all preuay play.1600 Abp. G. Abbot Expos. Prophet Ionah xiii. 273 Ionas was passed the pikes, and now entering vpon a victory, when [etc.]. A. prep. 1. c1300 (Laud Misc. 108) (1889) 43 (MED) I scholde have ben dumb as a schep..Slayn and passid al his pin. c1395 G. Chaucer 1476 The day is short, and it is passed [v.r. passede] pryme. c1449 R. Pecock (1860) 149 Aftir that the man is come into ȝeeris of discrecioun and is passid childhode. ?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden (Harl. 2261) (1876) VI. 343 Noon of theym lyvede passede [a1387 J. Trevisa tr. v.r. over] oon yere. 1509 S. Hawes (de Worde) xxvii. sig. O.iii I thought me past all chyldly ygnoraunce. 1526 Heb. xi. 11 Sara..was delivered of a childe when she was past age. 1574 J. Baret P 141 Olde howndes past hunting. 1574 J. Baret P 154 A disease Past the worst; drawing to an end. 1613 S. Purchas 119 When it was halfe an houre past the sixt houre. 1655 T. Fuller x. 65 Children not yet come to, and Old men already past helping of themselves. 1709 T. Hearne (1886) II. 309 After he was past the Age of one hundred Years. 1749 J. Cleland I. 6 My education, till past fourteen, was no better than very vulgar; reading, or rather spelling, an illegible scrawl. 1768 H. Brooke III. xvi. 134 This horse is quite passed mark of mouth. 1847 C. Brontë I. ii. 19 It was past four o'clock, and the beclouded afternoon was tending to drear twilight. 1885 28 May 833/2 Dancing was kept up till past two. 1955 J. Cheever (1991) 50 Thunderstorms in the night and at half past three a settled rain. 1999 A. Wheatle 66 Juliet glanced at her gold-coloured watch, noting that the time was past ten o'clock. 1542 in J. Stuart (1844) I. 439 Vsit and perseruit all tymes bigane, past memor of man. 1575 in J. H. Burton (1878) 1st Ser. II. 472 [This] hes bene in use..within the said Burgh past memor of man. 1559 P. Morwyng tr. C. Gesner 115 Geue it to be drunken fasting, if the disease be hot, with wine: and if the man be past .xxiiii. yeres of age [L. si homo excesserit annum uigesimum quartum] geue it him with Aqua vite. 1590 R. Hakluyt tr. T. de Bry True Pictures People Virginia in T. Hariot (new ed.) 45 After they be once past 10. yeares of age, they wear deer skinnes as the older sorte do. 1612 W. Symonds Proc. Eng. Colonie Virginia xi. 103 in J. Smith Pocahontas, Powhatans daughter..was the very nomparell of his kingdome, & at most not past 13 or 14 yeares of age. 1676 No. 1153/4 A light gray Gelding..five years old past. 1720 No. 5898/9 Lost.., a black Mare,..aged three Years past. 1767 Bp. W. Warburton (1809) 406 His being able, at past eighty, to perform this expedition on foot. 1835 S. S. Arnold in (1940) 8 120 This morning my white mare died, being 8 years old past, for which I gave $100 at five years past. 1894 ‘M. Twain’ xii. 157 He and Driscoll were of the same age—a year or two past sixty. 1904 J. Thorington (ed. 3) ix. 235 The [manifest] method by which the eyes of patients past forty-five years of age are refracted. 1967 M. Forster i. v. 98 In Maudie's opinion, no woman could get past forty and still have those needs. 1995 17 Mar. 63/1 Nearly one fifth of Britain's population is past retirement age. 2. 1421 in T. Rymer (1710) X. 163 (MED) Thay..be not payed of her Wages past xx or xxiv Francs..for the Month. c1450 King Ponthus (Digby) in (1897) 12 114 (MED) The kyng..loked to the see..and sawe not past lx schippes. a1470 T. Malory (Winch. Coll.) 130 There was founde but lytyll paste two hondred men slayne. c1515 Ld. Berners tr. (1882–7) iv. 7 They..departyd fro Parys without restynge past one night in a plase. 1589 G. Puttenham iii. xviii. 158 It was but a small trifle, not past sixteene shillings matter which he had taken. 1601 B. Jonson i. iii. sig. C4v Faith I haue not past two shillings, or so. View more context for this quotation 1608 E. Topsell 213 Theyr egges are not past so bigge as pease. 1668 C. Sedley Mulberry-garden ii. i, in (1722) II. 22 The Portion I can give with you does not deserve a Man of past half his Fortune. 1777 G. Colman i. ii. 8 I have a kinsman not past three quarters of a mile hence, unto whom I was going. 1910 P. W. Joyce xiii. 300 Our landlord's face we rarely see past once in seven years. 1447 O. Bokenham (Arun.) (1938) 59 Sche was wys, prudent & sage Past all the wommen off that cyte. 1594 G. Chapman sig. Dv The thunder-louing Ioue In honors past all others showes his loue. ?1611 G. Chapman tr. Homer i. 7 He, affects past all men height. 1791 W. Cowper tr. Homer Odyssey in II. xxiv. 547 But sight of those with wonder fill'd me most, So glorious past all others were the games By silver-footed Thetis giv'n for thee. 1818 J. Keats iii. 114 His own goddess was past all things fair. 1847 C. Brontë III. x. 258 He set store on her past everything. 1551 R. Crowley sig. Biiv But spent all..in rayment past your degree. 1598 G. Chapman sig. Dv My husband is a Lord and past a Lord. 1897 Bromyard Rec. 9 Dec. in (1903) IV. 433/1 Fortunately, past a profusion of soot and water, no damage was done. 3. the mind > mental capacity > expectation > despair, hopelessness > desperate state or condition > beyond hope [phrase] 1509 A. Barclay (Pynson) f. cliv Some ar so past shame in theyr langage So fowle and lothly, that [etc.]. 1534 Rom. xi. 33 How vnserchable are his iudgementes and his wayes past findyng out. 1598 W. Shakespeare ii. v. 192 Nay, thats past praying for, I haue pepperd two of them. View more context for this quotation 1600 W. Shakespeare iv. i. 203 I haue had a dreame, past the wit of man, to say; what dreame it was. View more context for this quotation ?1614 G. Chapman tr. Homer v. 81 She..again..diu'd past sight the Maine. a1661 T. Fuller (1662) Wales 11 It is past my power to comprimise a difference betwixt two so great persons. a1734 R. North (1740) i. iii. §14. 131 Which is a Sottise past all Belief. 1782 W. Cowper Mutual Forbearance in 25 Well, I protest 'tis past all bearing. 1847 C. Brontë II. i. 3 ‘I will put her to some test,’ thought I: ‘such absolute impenetrability is past comprehension.’ 1881 A. Trollope III. lvii. 176 His mother moaning and groaning over him as though he were sick almost past hope of recovery. 1909 R. Kipling (1910) 46 I've seen her walk to her own mirror by bye-ends, and the woman that cannot walk straight there is past praying for. 1916 ‘Taffrail’ viii. 142 Most of the younger men were past caring whether it was Christmas or Easter. 1960 G. W. Target (1962) 231 ‘Did she say anything else at all?’ he said. ‘This is getting past a joke.’ 2002 (Nexis) 12 Dec. 48 A succession of German coaches have ignored him and he is long past caring. the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > [adjective] > insanity or madness > affected with a1470 T. Malory (Winch. Coll.) 331 And the more he loked on her, the more he brenned in love, that he passed hymself farre in his reson.] 1576 G. Pettie sig. Dv Beeinge quight past himselfe, with staringe lookes, with pale countenaunce, with fierie eyes, [etc.]. 1602 W. Watson 132 He was so vexed, lacerated, and calumniated..that he became almost past himselfe. 1641 sig. B2 Oftentimes in the midst of his pastimes, calling the Princesse to mind, he would as one past himselfe,..abandon the company of his most familiars. 1863 E. C. Gaskell II. xii. 214 Mother is so patient, it puts me past mysel', for I could fight wi' t' very walls I'm so mad wi' grieving. 1892 Ld. Tennyson iv. i. 129 You see he is past himself. What would you more? 1896 F. M. T. Palsgrave 35 He's gone past hissel. 1996 C. I. Macafee 247/2 Past yourself, beside yourself, distracted. ?1611 G. Chapman tr. Homer ii. 24 But Ioue hath..cast My life into debates, past end. 1618 G. Chapman tr. Hesiod 180 That man, put To his fit task, will see it done past talk With any fellow. 1868 W. Morris ii. 561 I..Am nowise God to give man bliss Past ending. the mind > mental capacity > expectation > expect [verb (intransitive)] > not be surprised by 1619 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher iii. sig. F1 You are welcome Sir, I thinke, but if you be not, tis past me To make you so: for I am here a stranger, Greater then you. 1677 J. Dryden v. i. 39 Wilt thou forsake me, in distress, For that which now is past me to redress? 1859 G. Meredith Last Words Juggling Jerry in 3 Sept. 190/2 It's past parsons to console us. 1870 G. M. Hopkins (1959) 198 Br. Yates gave me the following Irish expressions—I wouldn't put it past you or I wouldn't doubt you = It is just what I should expect of you. 1894 E. Œ. Somerville & ‘M. Ross’ I. v. 63 I wouldn't put it past Charlotte to be trying to ketch Mr. Dysart. 1929 W. Faulkner 251 I'm not surprised though... I wouldn't put anything past you. 1976 M. Birmingham ix. 159 ‘Do you think she could possibly consider killing justified for the sake of her deprived flock?’ ‘I wouldn't put it past her’. 1998 N. Jones (Mersey TV transmission script) (O.E.D. Archive) Episode 256. 35 Lewis: You don't think he set all that up? Ruth: I wouldn't put it past him. the world > life > death > dead person or the dead > [adjective] the world > time > relative time > the past > oldness or ancientness > [phrase] > old-fashioned or obsolete the world > action or operation > ability > inability > [adjective] > unable or incompetent > no longer competent c1635 Avaritia in (caption to plate) Once turnd bawd, (as past it) and growne old, Her soule it selfe, shee Prostitutes to Gould. 1679 J. Fletcher & F. Beaumont i. i. 405 The Duke he's old and past it, he would Never have brought such a plague upon the Land else. 1691 W. Mountfort i. ii. 5 Lads at 12 will begin to Whore and bear Drink.., and be past it at five and twenty. 1845 C. Dickens iii. 121 As I am now, there's nothing can be said for me or done for me. I'm past it. 1864 C. M. Yonge II. xi. 197 ‘He is almost past it,’ said Tom, ‘but..he may be roused by my voice.’ 1928 E. Wallace xv. 130 He was a handy old chap—but he was getting rather past it. 1950 ‘J. Guthrie’ ii. 37 One never dreamed of going to them for advice. The fact was they were past it; they had lived their lives. 1978 1 Dec. 1388/2 Not for him the slumped envy of the past-it fantasizer. 1993 S. Stewart xxi. 215 I shall miss the boats, but they're gettin past it, and we're gettin past it. 2000 H. Simpson (2001) 50 The birthday cards had all been about being past it. 4. 1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart I. 154 When he was past the ryver, he thanked God. 1597 W. Shakespeare v. vi. 75 My lord, the enemie is past the marsh. View more context for this quotation 1696 Let. in J. Aubrey (1721) 209 E're we were two pair of Butts past the House. 1790 R. Burns Tam o' Shanter 91 in (1968) II. 560 By this time he was cross the ford, And past the birks and meikle stane. 1854 H. D. Thoreau 157 He was a great consumer of meat, usually carrying his dinner to his work a couple of miles past my house. 1870 W. Morris 507 Let me speak to thee, If so it really is that thou art free, At peace and happy past the golden gate. 1900 Apr. 577 Through the trees can be seen..the fjord,..as it stretches past headland and river-isle out to the sea. 1960 T. Hughes 57 One jammed past its gills down the other's gullet. 2000 June (Mag. Suppl.) 5/3 A short dirt road leads past the carpark for an enjoyable bushwalk to the caves. the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > movement over, across, through, or past > [verb (intransitive)] > move past the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > movement over, across, through, or past > [preposition] > past the world > movement > rate of motion > move at specific rate [verb (transitive)] > gain (ground) upon > catch up or overtake 1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus f. 137 He..behelde hir after that she was gon past hym. ?1614 G. Chapman tr. Homer iii. 38 Grave Nestor..flowes Past shore, in all experience. a1684 J. Evelyn anno 1683 (1955) IV. 321 I turn'd my head the Contrary way til the Coach was gon past it. 1740 H. Bracken (ed. 2) II. vi. 167 Altho' his Adversary's Horse make a Spring, and run past him. 1808 W. Scott iii. xii. 144 He drew his mantle past his face. 1857 T. Hughes i. v. 109 They're the bounds. As soon as the ball gets past them, it's in touch, and out of play. 1891 A. Conan Doyle i He appeared to be in a great hurry..and brushed past the maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly at home. 1929 E. Bowen xv. 186 She stared past Marda's shoulder into the darkness. 1971 July 14/2 The..Singles..were won by Lady Ursula Abbey who just got past Mrs. Temple in a close and protracted final. 2000 Apr. 20/1 An aluminium launch ran past us, ferrying more twitchers to the various hides perched high on the cliffs. B. adv. (Usually with point of reference supplied by the context: past the speaker, or the person, point, or place spoken of.) the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > movement over, across, through, or past > [adverb] > past 1790 A. Wilson 98 While harsh, the huge Machine shot loud rethundering past. 1805 W. Wordsworth 32 The sounding blast, That, if it could, would hurry past. 1854 H. D. Thoreau 279 Wagons shot past with furious speed and crushing loads. 1884 W. C. Smith 43 The tread of time as it hastens past. 1914 ‘B. L. Standish’ in 30 Sept. 138/1 Courtney missed a hopper, though he almost fancied his bat lightly touched the whistling ball as it sped past. 1946 E. Bowen in 3 Jan. 14/1 ‘It's really quite creepy!’ she cried, as she pedalled past. 2000 Aug. 81/2 Crouched and whimpering, I dry-retched in fear as bullets whizzed past. the mind > possession > supply > storage > store [verb (transitive)] > reserve 1847 8 377 It is stacked past until the following year. 1894 W. G. Stevenson iii. 65 I'm prood to think ye're layin' past siller. 1937 in (1968) VII. 46/1 The bundle was put past for Miss—who left us at the end of May. 1977 17 Jan. 5/7 It means I'll have to..put the last increase in pension away every week to cover my own funeral, hoping that I'm spared until such times as I've got enough put past. 1996 C. I. Macafee 247/2 Lay or put past, lay by, put aside..Have you any tobacco past? Compounds C1. Chiefly poetic. Compounds of the preposition with object (cf. sense A. 3). a. a1586 Sir P. Sidney (1590) iii. viii. sig. Mm6 Soroing not only his owne sorow, but the past-comfort sorow, which he fore-knew his mother would take. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) ii. i. 120 To prostitute our past-cure malladie To empericks. View more context for this quotation a1888 P. J. Holdsworth in D. B. W. Sladen (1888) 241 Consumed By pestilent Thirst, and past-cure maladies. 1904 at Past prep & adv. Past-feeling. 1631 G. Chapman ii. i. sig. C 4v I be forc't To helpe my Countrey, when it forceth me To this past-helping pickle? 1767 ‘Coriat Junior’ I. 332 Enable me..to rejoice the past-hoping heart. 1602 J. Davies sig. A4v The Soule is such a precious thing, As cost the price of past-price deerest bloud. b. 1553 T. Wilson iii. f. 107 The extreme wickednes of some pastgood roisters. a1881 S. Lamier (1908) 8 Cry good and past-good and most heavenly morrow, lord Sun. 1904 at Past prep. & adv. Past-good (whence past-good sb.). the mind > emotion > pride > impudence > [noun] > impudent person 1553 R. Ascham Let. 24 Mar. in H. Ellis (1843) 15 Thei judge bashfull men to be rude, and past-shames to be well manered. 1904 at Past prep. & adv. Past-shame [a.] (whence past-shame sb.). c. 1876 F. W. Farrar xiii. 124 The past-feelingness of a miserable despair. 1876 G. M. Hopkins Wreck of Deutschland xxxiii, in (1967) 62 A vein for the visiting of the past-prayer, pent in prison, The-last-breath penitent spirits. C2. society > trade and finance > management of money > insolvency > indebtedness > [adjective] > owed > overdue 1896 (European ed.) June 158/1 I wrote out the past-due subscription bill. 1991 23 Nov. 140/2 Several banks—including Hyundai's main bank, Korea Exchange Bank—moved to cut credit lines and collect past-due loans and interest. 2003 (Nexis) 27 June (Special section) 67 s We reached our yearly budget for past-due loans in just the first quarter of 2003. the world > time > relative time > the past > antecedence or being earlier > [adjective] 1784 R. Bage I. 199 When you reflect upon your past-gone occupation. 1821 C. Lloyd 192 They dar'd not longer dwell In persevering in the past-gone scene. the world > the supernatural > deity > [adjective] > superhuman 1614 J. Sylvester 1257 Immortall Beauties of past-humane Soules. 1898 G. Meredith 14 Like dotage of the past-meridian dame For some bright Sungod adolescent. 1823 J. Galt II. xxviii. 268 A man o' past-ordinar sense. 1826 J. Galt xii. 113 The Doctor is a past ordinar young man. 1996 C. I. Macafee 247/2 Past ordinar,..exceptionally good or bad. the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > symptom > [noun] > specific result of diagnostic test 1916 15 July 100/2 Movement of the endolymph in the semicircular canals in a given direction, stimulates the sensitive hair cells in these canals, and produces definite phenomena. These phenomena are: 1, A twitching of the eyes or nystagmus of a certain type; 2, vertigo; 3, so-called ‘past pointing’; 4, falling reactions. 1934 R. R. Grinker xiii. 372 In cerebellar disturbances if a past pointing does occur it is outward, no matter where the lesion. 1999 120 117 Romberg's and past-pointing tests were performed on children with otitis media with effusion and controls. 1883 J. Greenwood xxiv. 204 These past-prime belles of the garden. the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > [noun] > vastness of quantity or amount 1609 W. Shakespeare ii. ii. 28 Will you with Compters summe, The past proportion of his infinite. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) iv. iii. 158 What a past-sauing slaue is this? View more context for this quotation 1844 J. T. J. Hewlett I. x. 207 A past-the-middle-age college-bedmaker. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022). <  adj.n.c1300 prep.adv.c1300 |
