PRETERI'TION, n. [L. proeterio, to pass by.] 1. The act of going past; the state of being past.2. In rhetoric, a figure by which, in pretending to pass over any thing, we make a summary mention of it; as, "I will not say, he is valiant, he is learned, he is just," &c. The most artful praises are those bestowed by way of preterition.
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