past A1 Topic:Time US /past/ UK /pɑːst/ See IPA manual Freq #585 Meanings 1 noun The time that has already happened, before now. She likes to talk about the past and how life used to be. 2 adj Just finished or recently gone by. It has rained every day during the past week. 3 adj Belonging to an earlier time; no longer happening. He often thinks about past glories from his youth. 4 adv So as to move from one side of something to the other and beyond it. A train goes past every hour. 5 noun An earlier part of someone's life, especially one they want to keep secret. Reporters dug into the candidate's past. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · the time that has already... yesteryear 2 adj · just finished or recently... foregone 3 adj · belonging to an earlier... bygone 4 adv · so as to move from one side... by More backwardforepassedforepastformerhistorichistoricalhoaryoldenprecedingpreteriteused-to-be ↔ Opposites futurepresent Word family Forms pastnesspasts Derived forms past-timepastless Related forms preterite Common collocations past participle Adjective + noun Etymology AI details From Middle English passed, past participle of passen (“to pass, to go by”), whence Modern English pass. Topics Time External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # past **Type:** Word **Level:** A1 **Part of speech:** noun, adj, adv **IPA (US):** /past/ **IPA (UK):** /pɑːst/ **Frequency rank:** 585 ## Meanings 1. The time that has already happened, before now. 2. Just finished or recently gone by. 3. Belonging to an earlier time; no longer happening. 4. So as to move from one side of something to the other and beyond it. 5. An earlier part of someone's life, especially one they want to keep secret. ## Examples - She likes to talk about the past and how life used to be. - It has rained every day during the past week. - He often thinks about past glories from his youth. - A train goes past every hour. - Reporters dug into the candidate's past. ## Synonyms - backward - foregone - forepassed - forepast - former - historic - historical - hoary - olden - preceding - preterite - used-to-be ## Antonyms - future - present ## Derived Forms - past-time - pastless ## Related Forms - preterite ## Etymology From Middle English passed, past participle of passen (“to pass, to go by”), whence Modern English pass. ## AI Etymology Past comes from Middle English passed, past participle of passen (“to pass, to go by”), whence Modern English pass. Modern senses include the time that has already happened, before now and just finished or recently gone by. The wider word family includes derivatives such as past-time and pastless and related forms such as preterite. ## Topics - Time markdown