Definition of "past"

The past, at least, is secure.

1830, Daniel Webster, a speech

The present is only intelligible in the light of the past, often a very remote past indeed.

1860, Richard Chenevix Trench, On the English Language, Past and Present

The Mesozoic landscape of southeastern Utah can tell us much about the past, and it's one of the most intriguing and beautiful landscapes on Earth.

2012, Chinle Miller, In Mesozoic Lands: The Mesozoic Geology of Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, Kindle edition

The highway to the East Coast which ran through the borough of Ebbfield had always been a main road and even now, despite the vast garages, the pylons and the gaily painted factory glasshouses which had sprung up beside it, there still remained an occasional trace of past cultures.

1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 7, in The China Governess‎

That had been, what, three years past?

1999, George R.R. Martin, A Clash of Kings, Bantam, published 2011, page 538

Some four decades past, as a boy, I had a chance encounter and conversation with the late W.A. Poucher [...].

2009, John Sadler, Glencoe, Amberley, published 2009, page 20

Sarkozy's total will be seen as a personal failure. It is the first time an outgoing president has failed to win a first-round vote in the past 50 years and makes it harder for Sarkozy to regain momentum.

2012 April 23, Angelique Chrisafis, “François Hollande on top but far right scores record result in French election”, in The Guardian‎

But they were stunned when Glen Johnson's error let in Peter Odemwingie to fire past Pepe Reina on 75 minutes.

2012 April 22, Sam Sheringham, “Liverpool 0-1 West Brom”, in BBC Sport‎

Great Tuscane dames, as she their towns past by, / Wisht her their daughter-in-law, but frustrately.

1632, John Vicars, The XII Aeneids of Virgil