Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)

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First published 1986 (DOST Vol. VI).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

Preter(e, adj. [e.m.E. preter (1530), = past in time (1578), ellipt. for preter (tense) (1615), f. the L. adv. præter past, by, beyond, used for Preterit(e adj.] a. Past (time). b. ellipt. for preter time, tense. c. comb. in preter-imperfect (e.m.E. (1530)). (Cf. also Preterplusquamperfect.) —a. 1492 Myll Spect. 277/17.
I may tak examplis by vtheris that has bene in the preter tymeb. 16.. Rudiments fol. 24 a.
The future of thire thrie moodes hes sometymes a significatione mixed of the pretere & the future, vhence it is called the preter finished & exacted, or the perfyte, as, I shall write, when I shall haue writen Ib. fol. 25 a.
For the preter is thriefold vnperfyte, perfyte and more than perfytec. 16.. Rudiments fol. 5 b.
The supines doe descend for the preter-imperfect time of the indicatiue mwde