preterite
/ˈpɹɛtəɹɪt/
"preterite" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“preterite” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Showing an action at a determined moment in the past.
Corpus desk
Index EN-preterite · preterite · English
preterite · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "P" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | preterite |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈpɹɛtəɹɪt/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “preterite” in English
Rare enough to double-check
preterite is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈpɹɛtəɹɪt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for preterite in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our dataset records no confusable match here, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English preterit, from Old French preterit (13th century), from Latin praeteritum (as in tempus praeteritum (“time past”)), the past participle of praetereō (“to go by, go past”), itself from praeter (“beyond, before, above, more than”) (compara… The correct English form is preterite, spelled P-R-E-T-E-R-I-T-E.
Definition
- 1Showing an action at a determined moment in the past.
- 2Belonging wholly to the past; passed by.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how preterite appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The Dravidian preterite tense is ordinarily formed, like the present, by annexing the pronominal signs to the preterite verbal participle.
Without leaving your elbow-chair, you shall go back with me thirty years, which will bring you among things and persons as thoroughly preterite as Romulus or Numa.
Etymology
From Middle English preterit, from Old French preterit (13th century), from Latin praeteritum (as in tempus praeteritum (“time past”)), the past participle of praetereō (“to go by, go past”), itself from praeter (“beyond, before, above, more than”) (comparative of prae (“before”)) + itum (the past participle of eō (“to go”)).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.