Meanings
alternative past time
- datedobsoleteBelonging to a time from the past; old-fashioned; outdated.
... perhaps because of this it retains unhurt so much of its past-time naturalness.
1913, James John Hissey, A Leisurely Tour in England, page 941 more example
These past-time inns, the outcome of the picturesque coaching days, when they have not been altered or improved to suit modern requirements, how they delight the eye of the nineteenth-century traveller along the old high roads!
1889, James John Hissey, A Tour in a Phaeton Through the Eastern Counties, page 89
Origin
From past + time. First appears c. 1889 in the writings of James John Hissey.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
past-time. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/past-time
“past-time.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/past-time. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “past-time,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/past-time.
Source: past-time on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.