# past
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English, past participle of passen (“to pass, to go by”), whence Modern English pass.

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) enPR: päst, IPA: /pɑːst/
* (Northern England, Scotland, Canada) IPA: /past/
* Audio (UK):(file)
* (US) enPR: păst, IPA: /pæst/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Homophone: passed
* Rhymes: -æst, -ɑːst

### Noun

past (plural pasts)
* The period of time that has already happened, in contrast to the present and the future.
    a book about a time machine that can transport people back into the past
** 1830, Daniel Webster, a speech
    The past, at least, is secure.
** 1860, Richard Chenevix Trench, On the English Language, Past and Present:The present is only intelligible in the light of the past, often a very remote past indeed.
** 1979, Italo Calvino, If on a Winter's Night a Traveler:Every time the little gate creaks--I'm in the shed with the tanks at the end of the garden--I wonder from which of my pasts the person is arriving, seeking me out even here: maybe it is only the past of yesterday and of this same suburb, the squat Arab garbage collector who in October begins his rounds for tips, house by house, with a Happy New Year card, because he says that his colleagues keep all the December tips for themselves and he never gets a penny; but it could also be the more distant pasts pursuing old Ruedi, finding the little gate in the Impasse: smugglers from Valais, mercenaries from Katanga, croupiers from the Veradero casino and the days of Fulgencio Batista.
** 2012, Chinle Miller, In Mesozoic Lands: The Mesozoic Geology of Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, Kindle edition:The Mesozoic landscape of southeastern Utah can tell us much about the past, and it's one of the most intriguing and beautiful landscapes on Earth.
* (grammar) The past tense.

#### Synonyms

* (period of time that has already happened): foretime, yestertide; see also Thesaurus:the past

#### Derived terms

* blast from the past
* in the past
* past anterior
* past continuous
* past historic
* pastless
* past participle
* past perfect
* past progressive
* past simple
* past tense
* past-time
* simple past
* thing of the past
* time past
* times past

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

#### See also

* preterite

### Adjective

past (comparative more past, superlative most past)
* Having already happened; in the past; finished. [from 14th c.]
    past glories
** 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 7, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:The highway to the East Coast which ran through the borough of Ebbfield had always been a main road and even now, despite the vast garages, the pylons and the gaily painted factory glasshouses which had sprung up beside it, there still remained an occasional trace of past cultures.
* (postmodifier) Following expressions of time to indicate how long ago something happened; ago. [from 15th c.]
** 1999, George R.R. Martin, A Clash of Kings, Bantam, published 2011, page 538:That had been, what, three years past?
** 2009, John Sadler, Glencoe, Amberley, published 2009, page 20:Some four decades past, as a boy, I had a chance encounter and conversation with the late W.A. Poucher [...].
* Of a period of time: having just gone by; previous. [from 15th c.]
    during the past year
** 2012 April 23, Angelique Chrisafis, “François Hollande on top but far right scores record result in French election”, in The Guardian‎:Sarkozy's total will be seen as a personal failure. It is the first time an outgoing president has failed to win a first-round vote in the past 50 years and makes it harder for Sarkozy to regain momentum.
* (grammar) Of a tense, expressing action that has already happened or a previously-existing state. [from 18th c.]
    past tense

#### Synonyms

* (having already happened): bygone, foregone; see also Thesaurus:past
* (having just gone by): foregone, preceding, used-to-be; see also Thesaurus:former

#### Translations
### Adverb

past (comparative more past, superlative most past)
* In a direction that passes.
    Synonym: by
    I watched him walk past.

#### Translations
### Preposition

past
* Beyond in place or quantity
    the room past mine
    count past twenty
* (time) Any number of minutes after the last hour
    Antonym: to
    What's the time? - It's now quarter past twelve midday (or 12.15pm).
** 2012 April 22, Sam Sheringham, “Liverpool 0-1 West Brom”, in BBC Sport‎:But they were stunned when Glen Johnson's error let in Peter Odemwingie to fire past Pepe Reina on 75 minutes.
* No longer capable of.
    I'm past caring what he thinks of me.
* Having recovered or moved on from (a traumatic experience, etc.).
* Passing by, especially without stopping or being delayed.
    Ignore them, we'll play past them.
    Please don't drive past the fruit stand, I want to stop there.

#### Derived terms

* see past
* see past the end of one's nose
* whistle past

#### Translations
### Verb

past
* (obsolete) simple past and past participle of pass
** 1632, John Vicars, The XII Aeneids of Virgil:Great Tuscane dames, as she their towns past by, / Wisht her their daughter-in-law, but frustrately.

### Related terms

* a hair past a freckle
* blow past
* breeze past
* brush past
* by-past
* file past
* first past the post
* fly-past
* get past
* get past oneself
* ghost from one's past
* go past
* half past
* half-past-six
* let past
* live in the past
* look past
* look past the end of one's nose
* look past the tip of one's nose
* march-past
* march past
* non-past
* past exonerative
* past historic tense
* past imperfect tense
* past it
* past iterative
* past-life
* past life
* past-master
* past master
* past mistress
* past one's prime
* past paper
* past participial
* past perfect continuous
* past perfect progressive
* past-posting
* past redemption
* past time
* pea-time is past
* push past
* put it past
* put one past
* put past
* reach past
* run past, runpast
* see past the tip of one's nose
* sell past the close
* simple-past
* slip one past
* smuggle past
* sneak past
* talk past
* the mill cannot grind with water that is past
* tick past
* unsorted (terms derived from any part of speech, should be placed in the relevant section)
* whistle past the graveyard

### Anagrams

* ATSP, PTSA, TAPs, ap'ts, PATs, Apts, TAPS, PSAT, taps, spat, APTs, apts., ATPs, TPAs, ptas., Pats, stap, PTAs, pats, APTS, apts, Taps

## Czech
### Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *pastь,

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈpast]
* Rhymes: -ast

### Noun

past f
* trap (a device designed to catch and sometimes kill animals)
    past na myši ― mousetrap

#### Derived terms

* pastička

#### See also

* léčka
* záloha
* nástraha
* úskalí

### Further reading

* “past”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
* “past”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
* “past”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

### Anagrams

* spát
* psát

## Dutch
### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -ɑst
* IPA: /pɑst/

### Verb

past
* inflection of passen:
** second/third-person singular present indicative
** (archaic) plural imperative

### Anagrams

* spat, stap, taps

## Middle French
### Etymology

From Old French past, from Latin pastus (“pasture”).

### Noun

past m (plural pasts)
* food, meal
** 1537, Giles du Guez, quoting John Palsgrave (c. 1485–1554), An Introductorie for to lerne to speke Frenche trewly :Verité est le past de l'ame.Truth is the food of the soul.
** 1583, Claude Gruget, Diverses leçons :Il dit aussi que les choux mangez avant le past gardent d'enyvrer.He also says that cabbage, when eaten before a meal, reduces how much one gets drunk.

## Old French
### Alternative forms

* paist, pest, pas

### Etymology

From Latin pastus (“pasture”), probably influenced by paste (“dough, pastry”).

### Noun

past oblique singular, m (nominative singular past)
* food, meal
** ca. 1268, Étienne Boileau (ca. 1210–1270), Livre des métiers :Por son abuvrement et por son past.For him to drink and for his food.

#### Descendants

* Middle French: past

## Polish
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈpast/
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -ast
* Syllabification: past

### Noun

past f
* genitive plural of pasta

## Slovene
### Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *pastь.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /páːst/

### Noun

pȃst f
* trap

#### Inflection
### Verb

pȃst
* supine of pásti

### Further reading

* “past”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU (in Slovene), 2014–2025