aorist
|a-or-ist|
🇺🇸
/ˈeɪ.ə.rɪst/
🇬🇧
/ˈeə.rɪst/
indefinite / simple past
Etymology
'aorist' originates from Ancient Greek, specifically the word 'aoristos', where 'a-' meant 'not' and 'oristos' meant 'defined' or 'bounded'.
'aorist' passed into Late/Medieval Latin as 'aoristus' and into New Latin and grammatical terminology, eventually entering English as 'aorist'.
Initially it meant 'undefined' or 'without boundary'; over time it became the technical name for a tense indicating an indeterminate or simple past action.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
a grammatical tense (found in Ancient Greek and some other languages) expressing a simple or undefined past action without indicating its duration or completion.
In Ancient Greek, the aorist often conveys a simple, undefined past action.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Adjective 1
relating to or denoting the aorist tense or forms.
The verb's aorist form is irregular in that language.
Synonyms
Last updated: 2025/09/13 20:16