Past vs Ancient - What's the difference?
past | ancient |
The period of time that has already happened, in contrast to the present and the future.
* D. Webster
* Trench
(grammar) The past tense.
Having already happened; in the past; finished.
* {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
, chapter=7 (postmodifier) Following expressions of time to indicate how long ago something happened; ago.
* 1999 , (George RR Martin), A Clash of Kings , Bantam 2011, p. 538:
* 2009 , , Glencoe , Amberley 2009, p. 20:
Of a period of time: having just gone by; previous.
* {{quote-news, year=2012, date=April 23, work=(The Guardian), author=Angelique Chrisafis
, title=François Hollande on top but far right scores record result in French election
(grammar) Of a tense, expressing action that has already happened or a previously-existing state.
beyond in place, quantity or time
* {{quote-news
, year=2012
, date=April 22
, author=Sam Sheringham
, title=Liverpool 0-1 West Brom
, work=BBC Sport
Having lasted from a remote period; having been of long duration; of great age; very old.
* {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham)
, title=(The China Governess)
, chapter=Foreword Existent or occurring in time long past, usually in remote ages; belonging to or associated with antiquity; old, as opposed to modern.
* {{quote-book, year=2006, author=(Edwin Black), title=Internal Combustion
, chapter=2 * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author=(Henry Petroski)
, title= (label) Relating to antiquity as a primarily European historical period; the time before the Middle Ages.
(obsolete) Experienced; versed.
* Berners
(obsolete) Former; sometime.
* Alexander Pope
A person who is very old.
A person who lived in ancient times.
(heraldry, archaic) A flag, banner, standard or ensign.
* 1719 ,
(UK, legal) One of the senior members of the Inns of Court or of Chancery.
(obsolete) A senior; an elder; a predecessor.
* Hooker
As nouns the difference between past and ancient
is that past is the period of time that has already happened, in contrast to the present and the future while ancient is a person who is very old.As adjectives the difference between past and ancient
is that past is having already happened; in the past; finished while ancient is having lasted from a remote period; having been of long duration; of great age; very old.As an adverb past
is in a direction that passes.As a preposition past
is beyond in place, quantity or time.past
English
(wikipedia past)Noun
(en noun)- a book about a time machine that can transport people back into the past
- The past , at least, is secure.
- The present is only intelligible in the light of the past , often a very remote past indeed.
Derived terms
(Terms derived from the noun "past") * blast from the past * in the past * past anterior * past continuous * past historic * past participle * past perfect * past progressive * past simple * past tense * simple pastSee also
* preteriteAdjective
(en adjective)citation, passage=The highway to the East Coast which ran through the borough of Ebbfield had always been a main road and even now, despite the vast garages, the pylons and the gaily painted factory glasshouses which had sprung up beside it, there still remained an occasional trace of past cultures.}}
- That had been, what, three years past ?
- Some four decades past , as a boy, I had a chance encounter and conversation with the late W.A. Poucher [...].
citation, passage=Sarkozy's total will be seen as a personal failure. It is the first time an outgoing president has failed to win a first-round vote in the past 50 years and makes it harder for Sarkozy to regain momentum.}}
Preposition
(English prepositions)- the room past mine
- count past twenty
- past midnight
citation, page= , passage=But they were stunned when Glen Johnson's error let in Peter Odemwingie to fire past Pepe Reina on 75 minutes.}}
Usage notes
* The preposition past is used to tell the time. The time 5:05 is said as five past five. 5:10 as ten past five. 5:15 as quarter past five. 5:20 as twenty past five. 5:25 as twenty-five past five. 5:30 as half past five. If we are aware of the approximate time, we can just use e.g. five past, ten past etc. See the example below. *: I thought it was about six o'clock, but it was actually ten past . * Compare with to (five to, ten to, quarter to, twenty to, twenty-five to) * See also: o'clockStatistics
*Anagrams
* 1000 English basic words ----ancient
English
(wikipedia ancient)Alternative forms
* anchient, antient, aunchient, auncient, auntient, awncient, awntient (obsolete)Adjective
(en-adj)citation, passage=‘I understand that the district was considered a sort of sanctuary,’ the Chief was saying. ‘An Alsatia like the ancient one behind the Strand, or the Saffron Hill before the First World War. […]’}}
citation, passage=Buried within the Mediterranean littoral are some seventy to ninety million tons of slag from ancient smelting, about a third of it concentrated in Iberia. This ceaseless industrial fueling caused the deforestation of an estimated fifty to seventy million acres of woodlands.}}
Geothermal Energy, volume=101, issue=4, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Energy has seldom been found where we need it when we want it. Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame. With more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to turn grist into meal.}}
- Though [he] was the youngest brother, yet he was the most ancient in the business of the realm.
- They mourned their ancient leader lost.
Antonyms
* modernDerived terms
* Ancient Egypt * Ancient Greece * ancient lights * Ancient Macedonian * ancient pyramid * Ancient Rome * ancientryNoun
(en noun)- I got all things ready as he had directed, and waited the next morning with the boat washed clean, her ancient and pendants out, and everything to accommodate his guests..
- Junius and Andronicus were his ancients .
