2. A claim made, whether true or false; a right alleged or assumed; a holding out the appearance of possessing
a certain character; as, pretensions to scholarship.
This was but an invention and pretension given out by the Spaniards.
Bacon.
Men indulge those opinions and practices that favor their pretensions.
L'Estrange. Pretentative
(Pre*ten"ta*tive) a. [Pref. pre- + tentative: cf. L. praetentare to try beforehand.] Fitted
for trial beforehand; experimental. [R.] Sir H. Wotton.
Pretentious
(Pre*ten"tious) a. [Cf. F. prétentieux. See Pretend.] Full of pretension; disposed to lay
claim to more than is one's; presuming; assuming. — Pre*ten"tious*ly, adv. - - Pre*ten"tious*ness, n.
Preter-
(Pre"ter-) [L. praeter past, beyond, originally a compar. of prae before. See For, prep.] A
prefix signifying past, by, beyond, more than; as, preter- mission, a permitting to go by; preternatural,
beyond or more than is natural. [Written also præter.]
Preterhuman
(Pre`ter*hu"man) a. [Pref. preter- + human.] More than human.
Preterient
(Pre*te"ri*ent) a. [L. praeteriens, p. pr. See Preterit.] Passed through; antecedent; previous; as,
preterient states. [R.]
Preterimperfect
(Pre`ter*im*per"fect) a. & n. [Pref. preter- + imperfect.] (Gram.) Old name of the
tense also called imperfect.
Preterist
(Pret"er*ist) n. [Pref. preter- + -ist.]
1. One whose chief interest is in the past; one who regards the past with most pleasure or favor.
2. (Theol.) One who believes the prophecies of the Apocalypse to have been already fulfilled. Farrar.
Preterit
(Pret"er*it) a. [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.) 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.) The preterit; also, a word in the preterit tense.
Preterite
(Pret"er*ite) a. & n. Same as Preterit.
Preteriteness
(Pret"er*ite*ness), n. Same as Preteritness.
Preterition
(Pre`ter*i"tion) n. [L. praeteritio: cf. F. prétérition.]
1. The act of passing, or going past; the state of being past. Bp. Hall.
2. (Rhet.) A figure by which, in pretending to pass over anything, a summary mention of it is made; as,
"I will not say, he is valiant, he is learned, he is just." Called also paraleipsis.
3. (Law) The omission by a testator of some one of his heirs who is entitled to a portion. Bouvier.
Preteritive
(Pre*ter"i*tive) a. (Gram.) Used only or chiefly in the preterit or past tenses, as certain
verbs.
