Editing Past (section)

{{Short description|Events that occurred before a given time point}}
{{Other uses|PAST (disambiguation)|The Past (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Bouncing ball strobe edit.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|A picture of a basketball bouncing, composed of frames taken at different points in the past]]

The '''past''' is the set of all [[Spacetime#Definitions|events]] that occurred before a given point in [[time]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=past |url=http://www.dictionary.com/browse/past |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180626030605/http://www.dictionary.com/browse/past |archive-date=26 June 2018 |access-date=25 June 2018 |website=Dictionary.com |format=web article}}</ref> The past is contrasted with and defined by the [[present]] and the [[future]]. The concept of the past is derived from the linear fashion in which human observers experience time, and is accessed through [[memory]] and [[recollection]]. In addition, human beings have [[recorded history|recorded the past]] since the advent of written language.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Christian |first=David |title=Record Keeping and History: How We Chronicle the Past |url=https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/big-history-project/agriculture-civilization/first-cities-appear/a/recordkeeping-and-history |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180626030540/https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/big-history-project/agriculture-civilization/first-cities-appear/a/recordkeeping-and-history |archive-date=26 June 2018 |access-date=25 June 2018 |website=www.khanacademy.org |publisher=Khan Academy |format=web article}}</ref>

In English, the word ''past'' was one of the many variant forms and spellings of ''passed'', the past participle of the [[Middle English]] verb [[wikt:passen#Middle English|''passen'']] (whence Modern English ''pass''), among ''ypassed'', ''ypassyd'', ''i-passed'', ''passyd'', ''passid'', ''pass'd'', ''paste'', etc.<ref name=etymonline>{{cite web|website=Online Etymology Dictionary|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/past|title=past}}</ref> It developed into an adjective and preposition in the 14th century, and a noun (as in ''the past'' or ''a past'', through [[Ellipsis (linguistics)|ellipsis]] with the adjective ''past''<ref name=oxford>''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]''</ref>) in the 15th century.<ref>{{Cite web |date=n.d. |title=Past |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/past |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180724153928/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/past |archive-date=24 July 2018 |access-date=24 July 2018 |publisher=Merriam-Webster.com |format=Web}}</ref><ref name=etymonline/>