speeded

Speeded is a form derived from the verb speed, meaning to move quickly or to cause something to move faster. In everyday usage, the simple past tense of speed for the intransitive sense (to go fast) is typically sped: for example, “the car sped down the road.” Speeded appears less often in this sense, but it is attested and can occur in transitive constructions or in more formal or older styles, such as “to speed something up” or “to speed the process.”

As a past participle, sped and speeded are both found in English. Sped is generally more common in contemporary usage, especially with intransitive verbs, while speeded is more likely to be seen when the action is described as having been caused to go faster or when the verb is used in a transitive sense, as in speeded up the process. In modern writing, the phrase speeded up is widely used as the past participle form of the phrasal verb speed up.

Etymology traces speed back to Old English with related Germanic forms; the distinct past tense forms sped and speeded have circulated since Middle English. The choice between sped and speeded is largely a matter of style, register, and regional preference, with sped dominating in many contemporary contexts and speeded appearing in certain transitive constructions or more formal diction.

See also: speed (noun and verb), speed up, speedy.