past

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

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: päst, IPA^(key): /pɑːst/
• (Northern England, Scotland, Canada) IPA^(key): /past/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• (US) enPR: păst, IPA^(key): /pæst/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Homophone: passed
• Rhymes: -æst, -ɑːst

past (plural pasts)

1. 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.

2. (grammar) The past tense.

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

• preterite

past (comparative more past, superlative most past)

1. 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.

2. (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 [...].

3. 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^[1]:

     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.

4. (grammar) Of a tense, expressing action that has already happened or a previously-existing state. [from 18th c.]

   past tense

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

past (comparative more past, superlative most past)

1. In a direction that passes.

   Synonym: by

   I watched him walk past.

past

1. Beyond in place or quantity

   the room past mine

   count past twenty

2. (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) -O,K., we'll stop at half (past) twelve

   • 2012 April 22, Sam Sheringham, “Liverpool 0-1 West Brom”, in BBC Sport‎^[2]:

     But they were stunned when Glen Johnson's error let in Peter Odemwingie to fire past Pepe Reina on 75 minutes.

3. No longer capable of.

   I'm past caring what he thinks of me.

4. Having recovered or moved on from (a traumatic experience, etc.).
5. 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.

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

past

1. (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.

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

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *pastь, akin to Polish zapadnia, Russian западня́ (zapadnjá).

Compare typologically German Falle (< fallen).

• IPA^(key): [ˈpast]
• Rhymes: -ast

past f

1. trap (a device designed to catch and sometimes kill animals)

   past na myši ― mousetrap

• léčka
• záloha
• nástraha
• úskalí

• “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

• spát
• psát

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑst
• IPA^(key): /pɑst/

past

1. inflection of passen:
   1. second/third-person singular present indicative
   2. (archaic) plural imperative

• spat, stap, taps

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

past m (plural pasts)

1. 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.

• paist, pest, pas

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

past oblique singular, m (nominative singular past)

1. 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.

• Middle French: past

• IPA^(key): /ˈpast/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ast
• Syllabification: past

past f

1. genitive plural of pasta

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *pastь.

• IPA^(key): /páːst/

pȃst f

1. trap

pȃst

1. supine of pásti

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

• pâst

Borrowed from English paste.

• IPA^(key): /pasd/, [pʰast]

past m (usually uncountable, plural pastau)

1. paste

• past dannedd (“toothpaste”)

• D. G. Lewis, N. Lewis, editors (2005–present), “past”, in Gweiadur: the Welsh–English Dictionary, Gwerin
• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “past”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies