used

used · adjective

imported

Definitions

adjective

  1. 1.

    Having already been owned or employed by someone else; not new.

  2. 2.

    (Used to) accustomed to; familiar with.

  3. 3.

    Past tense and past participle of "use."

  4. 4.

    (Used to) expressing a past habit or state that no longer exists.

Related words

Antonyms: new, unused
See also: accustomed, secondhand, use
Synonyms: accustomed, pre-owned, secondhand

Etymology

Past participle of "use," from Old French "user." The construction "used to" for past habits developed in Middle English. The pronunciation varies: /juːzd/ for the adjective meaning "secondhand," and /juːst/ in the phrases "used to" (past habit) and "be used to" (accustomed).