Past

A period of time before the present.

bygone former times

The past refers to a period of time before the present or a specific point in time.

/pɑːst/

From Old English past, from past participle of passan 'to step over, surpass'.

The past is everything that already happened, like your birthday last year or dinosaurs roaming the Earth a long time ago.

Archaeologists study the past by digging up old objects
Historians research and write about important events from the past
Many languages have different words for 'past' depending on how far back in time it refers to

What is the past? It refers to events that occurred before the present time
How do we know about the past? We learn from historical records, artifacts, and stories passed down through generations
Can we change the past? No, events that have already happened cannot be altered

history previous time

future present

time

history prehistory ancient history

timeline chronology

temporal