The Collaborative International Dictionary
praeterite
Preterit \Pret"er*it\ (?; 277), a. [L. praeteritus, p. p. of praeterire to go or pass by; praeter beyond, by + ire to go: cf. F. pr['e]t['e]rit. See Issue.] [Written also preterite and pr[ae]terite.]
(Gram.) Past; -- applied to a tense which expresses an action or state as past.
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Belonging wholly to the past; passed by. [R.]
Things and persons as thoroughly preterite as Romulus or Numa.
--Lowell.