Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To disregard intentionally or allow to pass unnoticed or unmentioned.
  • transitive verb To fail to do or include; omit.
  • transitive verb To interrupt or terminate.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To let pass: permit to go by unused or not turned to account.
  • To omit; leave unnoticed or unmentioned; disregard; overlook.
  • To leave undone; neglect to do, make, or perform.
  • To render ineffectual.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To pass by; to omit; to disregard.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To intentionally disregard something, allow it to go unnoticed, or change the subject in response to someone's comment; to omit or fail to carry out something; to prematurely terminate or interrupt something.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb disregard intentionally or let pass
  • verb leave undone or leave out

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin praetermittere : praeter, beyond; see preterite + mittere, to let go.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin praetermitto.

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Examples

  • "pretermit" -- to use his own expression -- a narrative which he held essential to his fame.

    The Heart of Mid-Lothian, Complete Walter Scott 1801

  • These incidents took place during Lent 1822; she would not pretermit her austerities, and fell into a decline that put her life in danger.

    A Second Home 2007

  • These incidents took place during Lent 1822; she would not pretermit her austerities, and fell into a decline that put her life in danger.

    A Second Home 2007

  • Aboo Abdallah to defend his city; but as I do not wish to make a parade of my learning, or to write a costume novel, I shall pretermit any description of the city under its Moorish governors.

    Burlesques 2006

  • The terror of his enemies (for 4, the marvel of his age, we pretermit, it being a loose term, that may apply to any person or thing) was now terrified by his enemies in turn.

    The Paris Sketch Book 2006

  • But as I only stayed eight days in this place, and knew not a syllable of the language, perhaps it is as well to pretermit any disquisitions about the spirit of the people.

    Notes of a Journey From Cornhill to Grand Cairo 2004

  • Not but what he could feel with mettlesome youth which, caring nought for the mows of dotards or the gruntlings of the severe, is ever (as the chaste fancy of the Holy Writer expresses it) for eating of the tree forbid it yet not so far forth as to pretermit humanity upon any condition soever towards a gentlewoman when she was about her lawful occasions.

    Ulysses 2003

  • The distinctions that are usually made concerning faith (as it is a word of various significations), I shall wholly pretermit; not only as obvious and known, but as not belonging unto our present argument.

    The Doctrine of Justification by Faith 1616-1683 1965

  • Then sayd the Accuser: Thou hast preached, sayd, and openly taught diuers and sundry other great errours and abhominable heresies agaynst all the vij. sacraments, which for shortnes of tyme I pretermit and ouer pass.

    The Works of John Knox, Vol. 1 (of 6) John Knox

  • But alas my Lorde, among the mid of my reioyce of those before remembred, I cannot pretermit the lamentable losse of the best approued Gonner that euer serued in our time his Prince and countrie, Robert Thomas, the Maister

    The Palace of Pleasure, Volume 1 William Painter

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