PRETERIST
Pret"er*ist, n. Etym: [Pref. preter- + -ist.]
1. One whose chief interest is in the past; one who regards the past with most pleasure or favor.
2. (Theol.)
Defn: One who believes the prophecies of the Apocalypse to have been already fulfilled. Farrar.
PRETERIT
Pret"er*it, a. Etym: [L. praeteritus, p. p. of praeterire to go or
pass by; praeter beyond, by + ire to go: cf. F. prétérit. See Issue.]
[Written also preterite and præterite.]
1. (Gram.)
Defn: Past; — applied to a tense which expresses an action or state as past.
2. Belonging wholly to the past; passed by. [R.] Things and persons as thoroughly preterite as Romulus or Numa. Lowell.
PRETERIT
Pret"er*it, n. (Gram.)
Defn: The preterit; also, a word in the preterit tense.