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.
