pastime

Etymology

It is formed from English pass + time,^[2][3][4][5] on the model of Middle French passe-temps,^[2][3][6][7] from passe, the imperative of passer (“to pass”), and temps (“time”),^[3][6] from Latin tempus (“time”).^[3] It replaced the older pastaunce, recorded before 1500.^[6] In early modern English it was often spelt with a space or a hyphen.^[2] Weekley compares German Zeitvertreib and Kurzweil.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

A diversion or recreation that passes the time pleasantly: about 1473, in Caxton's translation of Raoul Le Fèvre's Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye.^[2] Barnhart's first record is about 1489, in Caxton's Blanchardyn and Eglantine.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The word kept its literal sense, something that makes the time pass.^[2][3] From 1490 it was also used as a mass noun for recreation or amusement, a use the OED calls American in later times.^[2] Johnson (1755) defined it as "sport; amusement; diversion".^[9] A sense "the passing of time", recorded from before 1513, lived on in southern English dialect until 1875;^[2] in Sussex and Hampshire it also meant an occupation that passes the time well.^[10] The verb pastime, to amuse oneself, was used from 1523 to 1771, and in American sports writing from 1913 it has meant to play for a team.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1473 – a recreation or diversion, in Caxton.^[2]
• 1490 – as a mass noun, recreation, amusement.^[2]
• before 1513 – a passing of time (obsolete by 1875).^[2]
• 1523 – verb, to pass one's time pleasantly (obsolete by 1771).^[2]
• 1913 – verb, in American sport, to play for a team.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. An activity done for pleasure that makes time pass agreeably; a hobby, sport or game: Fishing was his favourite pastime.^[11][12][2]
2. (archaic) Recreation or amusement in general.^[13][2]

Related words

• pass
• time
• passe-temps
• pastance
• temporal

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
11. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
12. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
13. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press