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past tense

A verb tense used to express an action or a condition that occurred in or during the past. For example, in He read aloud while she was sewing, the verb read and the verb phrase was sewing are in the past tense.

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

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