Lewis & Short

praetĕr-ĕo, īvi, and more freq. ĭi, ĭtum, īre (fut. praeteriet, Vulg. Sap. 1, 8; id. Ecclus. 39, 37; Juvenc. 4, 159), v. n. and a.

  1. I. Neutr.
    1. A. To go by or past, to pass by: si nemo hac praeteriit, Plaut. Cist. 4, 2, 15: ut arbitri sint, qui praetereant per vias, id. Merc. 5, 4, 46: praeteriens modo, in passing by, Ter. And. 1, 5, 18: quasi praeteriens satisfaciam universis, Cic. Div. in Caecil. 15, 50; cf. id. Brut. 54, 200: te praetereunte, Juv. 3, 275.
      Of impers. and abstract subjects: nec, quae praeteriit, iterum revocabitur unda nec quae praeteriit hora; redire potest, Ov. A. A. 3, 63: nocte hac, quae praeteriit, proxima, Plaut. Merc. 2, 1, 3.
      So of time: biennium praeteriit cum ille cubitum nullum processerit, Cic. Att. 13, 12, 3: tertius jam praeteriit annus, cum interim, etc., Sen. Cons. ad Marc. 1, 7.
    2. B. To be lost, disregarded, perish, pass away, pass without attention or fulfilment (late Lat.): aut unus apex non praeteribit de lege, Vulg. Matt. 5, 8: figura hujus mundi, id. 1 Cor. 7, 31; id. Eccl. 1, 4; 7, 1.
  2. II. Act., to go by or past, to pass by, overtake, pass a person or thing.
    1. A. Lit.: praeterire pistrinum, Plaut. Capt. 4, 2, 27: jam hunc non ausim praeterire, id. As. 3, 4, 15: hortos, Cic. Fin. 5, 1, 3: jam hos cursu, jam praeterit illos, Verg. A. 4, 157: Maura Pudicitiae cum praeterit aram, Juv. 6, 308.
      Pass.: praeterita est virgo, Ov. M. 10, 680.
      Of inanim. subjects: ripas Flumina praetereunt, flow past their banks, Hor. C. 4, 7, 3.
    2. B. Trop.
      1. 1. To pass by an evil, to escape a danger: nescis, quid mali Praeterieris, Ter. Hec. 3, 4, 4.
      2. 2. With neutr. adj., or a clause as subject, to escape one, i. e. to escape one’s knowledge, be unknown to one: non me praeterit … me longius prolapsum esse, Cic. Caecin. 35, 101: sed te non praeterit, quam sit difficile, id. Fam. 1, 8, 2: nec dubitamus multa esse, quae et nos praeterierint, Plin. H. N. praef. § 18.
      3. 3. To pass by or over, i. e.
        1. a. To pass over, leave out, omit, not mention: quae nunc ego omnia praetereo ac relinquo, Cic. Verr. 2, 3, 44, § 106: ut hoc praeteream, quod, etc., id. ib. 2, 3, 77, § 178: omitto jurisdictionem contra leges, caedes relinquo, libidines praetereo, id. Prov. Cons. 3, 6: et quod paene praeterii, Bruti tui causā feci omnia, what I had nearly failed to mention, id. Att. 6, 3, 5: aliquid silentio, id. Brut. 22, 88: praeteream, referamne tuum … Dedecus? Ov. F. 6, 319: ut nihil praeteream, Plin. 2, 98, 101, § 220: ne quid praetereatur, id. 16, 10, 20, § 50.
        2. b. To pass over, omit, make no use of: locus, qui praeteritus neglegentiā est, Ter. Ad. prol. 14.
        3. c. To pass over, to omit, leave out, in reading or writing, Mart. 13, 3, 8: litteras non modo, sed syllabas praeterit, Suet. Aug. 88.
        4. d. To neglect or forget to do a thing, to omit, leave out, in action; with inf.: verum, quod praeterii dicere, neque illa matrem, etc., Plaut. Merc. 2, 3, 68: quod sciscitari paene praeterivi, App. M. 3, p. 139, 22.
          With acc.: nullum genus crudelitatis praeterire, to leave unpractised, Cic. Phil. 3, 2, 4.
          Pass.: tantā vi dixisse ut nulla pars orationis silentio praeteriretur, left without applause, Cic. Brut. 22, 88.
        5. e. In elections. legacies, invitations, donations, etc., to pass over, take no notice of, to neglect, reject, exclude any one: populus solet nonnumquam dignos praeterire: nec, si a populo praeteritus est, etc., Cic. Planc. 3, 8: cum sapiens et bonus vir suffragiis praeteritur, id. Tusc. 5, 19, 54: Philippus et Marcellus praetereuntur, were passed by, received no appointment, Caes. B. C. 1, 6: fratris filium praeteriit, has passed by, bequeathed nothing to, Cic. Phil. 2, 16, 41: me quoque Romani praeteriere patres, neglected me, forgot me, Ov. F. 5, 312: quid repente factum, Quod sum praeteritus vetus sodalis? Mart. 7, 86, 5: si eum (filium) silentio praeterierit, inutiliter testabitur, Gai. Inst. 2, 123.
        6. f. To go beyond, to surpass, excel: hos nobilitate Mago Carthaginiensis praeteriit, Varr. R. R. 1, 1: virtus alios tua praeterit omnes, Ov. P. 4, 7, 51: ut Ajax praeteriit Telamonem, Juv. 14, 214.
        7. g. To transgress: justum praeterit ira modum, due limits, Ov. F. 5, 304.
          Hence,
    1. A. praetĕrĕunter, adv., in passing, cursorily (eccl. Lat.): loqui, Aug. Tractat. 118, in Joann.
    2. B. praetĕrĭ-tus, a, um, P. a., gone by, past, past and gone, departed: nec praeteritum tempus unquam revertitur, Cic. Sen. 19, 69: aetas, id. ib. 2, 4: anni, Verg. A. 8, 560: nox, Prop 2, 11 (3, 6), 9: culpa, Ov. H. 20, 187: labor, Quint. 10, 7, 4: secula, id. 12, 4, 2: vita, Just. 42, 1: viri, dead and gone, departed, Prop. 2, 10, 52 (3, 5, 36): negotiantes veniā in praeteritum donavit, for the past, for their past conduct, Suet. Dom. 9: praeteritā noc. te, last night, Juv. 10, 235.
      In gram.: tempus praeteritum, the past or preterit tense: quaedam verba etiam mutantur, ut fero in praeterito, Quint. 1, 4, 29.
      Subst.: prae-tĕrĭta, ōrum, n., things gone by, the past: sevocatus animus a contagione corporis meminit praeteritorum, praesentia cernit, futura praevidet, Cic. Div. 1, 30, 63; id. Fat. 7, 14: monet ut in reliquum tempus omnes suspiciones vitet: praeterita se fratri condonare dicit, Caes. B. G. 1, 20: invidiam praeteritorum contemptu praesentium demere, Just. 21, 5, 10.
      Prov.: praeterita mutare non possumus, Cic. Pis. 25, 59 init.
      In partic., Praetĕrĭta, ōrum, n., things passed over (Gr. παραλειπόμενα), a name of the books of Chronicles, because they contain what had been omitted in the books of Kings, Hier. Ep. 18, n. 1.