*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of past

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

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
prep

Beyond in place or quantity. · Any number of minutes after the last hour. · No longer capable of. · Having recovered or moved on from (a traumatic experience, etc.).

adv

In a direction that passes.

adj

Having already happened; in the past; finished. · Following expressions of time to indicate how long ago something happened; ago. · Of a period of time: having just gone by; previous. foregone, # · Of a tense, expressing action that has already happened or a previously-existing state.

verb

simple past and past participle of pass

noun

The period of time that has already happened, in contrast to the present and the future. · The past tense.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

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

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

This page abbreviates 1 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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        "4": "",
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Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for past →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-cGFzdA