kept
- 1Simple past and past participle of keep.
He kept the old photographs in a shoebox under his bed.
She has kept a journal every day since she was twelve.
Note
The final -t is an old past ending that goes back to Old English cēpte, which is why the form is never spelled with -ed. One spelling covers two jobs, so the surrounding words decide which it is. She kept her word stands alone. She has kept accounts needs have, and the records were kept needs be. It carries every meaning of keep, from holding to a promise to keeping something in a state, as in kept warm.
kept is a form of keep
keep, verb: To stay, or make someone or something stay, in a particular state, place, or condition. Full entry
- Spelling
- keep → kept: irregular (no -ed)
Use it in a sentence
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Origin
This is the past tense of "keep," coming from Middle English kept (also kepte), from Old English cēpte.