passport

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈpɑːspɔːt/ (UK); /ˈpæspɔɹt/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French passeport (“authorization to pass through a port”),^[2][3][4] from passe, the imperative of passer, to pass (see pass), and port, harbour, seaport (see port).^[2][3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Authorization to pass from a port, to leave or enter a country: about 1500, as pase-porte; this sense is obsolete.^[2][6][3]

Semantic evolution

A formal document authorizing a person to pass out of or into a country is from 1546,^[6] and a permit allowing discharged soldiers, paupers and others to travel to their homes from 1548.^[6] A document granted to a neutral merchant ship in wartime is from 1581,^[6] as is the figurative sense, something that gives the right of entry, as a passport to success.^[6] A licence to move dutiable goods without duty is from 1715.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 1500 – permission to leave a port.^[6]
• 1546 – a travel document.^[6]
• 1548 – a permit for discharged soldiers.^[6]
• 1581 – a ship's passport; figurative use.^[6]
• 1715 – a customs licence.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An official document that certifies one's identity and citizenship and permits travel abroad.
2. A permit from a foreign country to travel through it or carry goods.
3. Something that secures admission or acceptance: a passport to success.

Word family

• passportless
• Nansen passport

Related words

• pass
• port
• password
• visa

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press