Where does “preterit” come from?
preterit (Middle English) comes from Old French preterit, from Latin praeteritum, from Latin praetereo, from Latin eō, from Proto-Italic eō, from Proto-Italic ejō, from Proto-Indo-European h₁éyti, from Proto-Indo-European h₁ey- — to go.
Ancestry of “preterit”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old French | preterit | — |
| 2 | Latin | praeteritum | nominative/accusative/vocative neuter singular of... |
| 3 | Latin | praetereo | I pass by or go by; I disregard, neglect, omit or... |
| 4 | Latin | eō | to go, to fare, to move (oneself) (any kind of animate or inanimate motion: walk, ride, sail, fly, etc.) |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | eō | I go |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | ejō | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁éyti | to go, to be going |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁ey- | to go |