past
Noun · Adjective · AdverbOpen English WordNet
Noun (3)pasts
- the time that has elapsed“forget the past”Synonyms: past timesyesteryearOpposite futureType of timeKinds history, bygone, auld langsyne, yesterday, old, time immemorial, yore
- a earlier period in someone's life (especially one that they have reason to keep secret)“reporters dug into the candidate's past”Type of time period, period of timePart of life
- a verb tense that expresses actions or states in the pastSynonyms: past tenseType of tenseKinds preterit, past simple
Adjective (2)
- earlier than the present time; no longer current“time past”“his youth is past”“this past Thursday”“the past year”Opposite present, futureSimilar last, erstwhile, former, late, early, other, historic, ancient +7 moreRelates to timingSee also noncurrent, outgoing, nonmodern, old
- of a person who has held and relinquished a position or office“a retiring member of the board”Synonyms: precedingretiringOpposite incomingSimilar outgoing
Adverb (1)
- so as to pass a given point“every hour a train goes past”Synonyms: by
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Translations
Noun period of time that has already happened
- Spanish
- pasado
- French
- passé
- German
- Vergangenheit
- Italian
- passato
- Portuguese
- passado
- Turkish
- geçmiş
- Russian
- про́шлое próšloje
- Arabic
- مَاضٍ māḍin
- Chinese
- 过去 guòqu
- Japanese
- 過去 kako
22 more languages
- Dutch
- verleden
- Polish
- przeszłość
- Greek
- παρελθόν parelthón
- Korean
- 과거 gwageo
- Vietnamese
- quá khứ
- Hungarian
- múlt
- Portuguese (PT)
- passado
- Chinese (Trad.)
- 過去 guòqu
- Albanian
- shkuar
- Catalan
- passat
- Czech
- minulost
- Danish
- fortid
- Esperanto
- estinteco
- Estonian
- minevik
- Finnish
- menneisyys
- Hebrew
- עָבָר avár
- Icelandic
- fortíð
- Latvian
- pagātne
- Norwegian
- fortid
- Romanian
- trecut
- Swahili
- zamani
- Yiddish
- פֿאַרגאַנגענהייט fargangenheyt
Adjective having already happened
Adverb in a direction that passes
The main translation for each meaning, from the langtolang.com multilingual dictionary. Each word links to its full entry there.
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: From Pass, verb
Of or pertaining to a former time or state; neither present nor future; gone by; elapsed; ended; spent; as, past troubles; past offences. “Past ages.” John Milton
Past master. See under Master.
A former time or state; a state of things gone by. “The past, at least, is secure.” Daniel Webster
The present is only intelligible in the light of the past, often a very remote past indeed.— Abp. Richard Chenevix Trench
1. Beyond, in position, or degree; further than; beyond the reach or influence of. “Who being past feeling.” Eph. iv. 19. “Galled past endurance.” Thomas Babington Macaulay
Until we be past thy borders.— Num. xxi. 22.
Love, when once past government, is consequently past shame.— Sir Roger L'Estrange
2. Beyond, in time; after; as, past the hour.
Is it not past two o'clock?— William Shakespeare
3. Above; exceeding; more than. rare
Not past three quarters of a mile.— William Shakespeare
Bows not past three quarters of a yard long.— Edmund Spenser
By; beyond; as, he ran past.
The alarum of drums swept past.— Henry W. Longfellow
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54