Preterit (noun)

1. The past tense in certain languages, especially Latin and Spanish.
2. A past tense used to express past actions or states.
3. A grammatical tense used to describe actions or events in the past.

Origin:

Late middle english (denoting a past event or state): from old french preterit, from latin praeteritus, past participle of praeterire 'go by', from praeter 'by' + ire 'go'.

Examples:

1. The preterit tense is used to describe actions that were completed in the past.
2. In Spanish, the preterit is used to describe events that occurred at a specific point in the past.
3. The preterit is a grammatical category that is used to describe past actions.
4. The preterit is often used in historical narratives to describe events that took place in the past.
5. In Latin, the preterit is used to describe past actions in the indicative mood.