prep. — Newfoundland
of a place: past, beyond; of time: past, after.
Type: 2. Preservation — Apast is a preposition in Newfoundland that is used when referring to something that is past a certain point in time or space. When used in reference to time, the meaning is similar to 'after' or '(passed) by' (see, for example, the 1933 quotation). When used in reference to place, however, apast can indicate going beyond either a physical location (see the 1952 quotation) or a figurative point, i.e. living beyond one's means (see the 1911 quotation). Apast first arose in BrE as an alternate spelling for "apassed", the past tense form of a now-obsolete verb meaning 'to pass on or by (in space or time)' (OED-3, s.v. "apass"). EDD (s.v. "apast") suggests that the term, for which evidence from as early as the 14th century can be found, is derived from Old French, where the verb "apasser" meant 'to pass on'. The term then likely travelled to Newfoundland in the 18th and 19th centuries with English settlers from the southwest counties, from whom a great deal of NLE vocabulary is preserved. Because of the province's geographical and social isolation, many words like apast that may be obsolete in other locations have remained in use on the island (Clarke 2010b: 103).
See also DNE, s.v. "apast".
- Note that the 1942 and the 1981 dates are misleading, as the evidence quotes older rhymes and songs.