pasaje

Forms

pasaje m (plural pasajes)^[1] Medieval texts spell it passage, pasage and pasaie beside pasaje.^[2] Passage is the usual form in the 13th-century Aragonese law books.^[2][3]

Etymology

DICCA-XV takes it as borrowed from Old Occitan passatge, a derivative of *passare (“to pass”), which comes from passus (“step”), itself from pandō (“to spread out”).^[4] García de Diego derives it from the verb through French passage.^[5] Wiktionary and Gómez de Silva analyse it instead as formed in Spanish, from Spanish pasar + -aje.^[1][6] The Breve diccionario lists it among the derivatives of paso and dates it 1309.^[7]

The word has the same shape as Catalan passatge and Portuguese passagem.^[8][9] Early hits in the corpus come from the east of the Peninsula: the form passatge in a Latin charter of James I of 1222 and passage in the law code of Aragon of 1247.^[3] It is a cognate, not the source, of English passage.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest record is in La fazienda de Ultra Mar, dated about 1200 and known from a 13th-century copy, where it means the crossing of the Jordan by the children of Israel: el flum Jordan a so pasaie de fijos de Ysrael “the river Jordan at the crossing of the children of Israel”.^[3][2] About 1235 the Fuero de Alcalá uses it for the passage of livestock from outside the district, which may stay one night en pasaje, and the Aragonese law books of the same years speak of the passage granted to flocks.^[3]

Semantic evolution

From the act of passing the word came to name the place where one passes, the toll paid for crossing a kingdom, a bridge or a ferry, and the price of a sea voyage.^[10][11] Alfonso X's astronomy of 1277 already uses it for the passage of a sign of the zodiac across a circle.^[12] The Academy's dictionary of 1843 lists a strait between islands, the musical transition from one voice or key to another, and a piece of a book or speech; in 1884 it added all the travellers on one ship.^[11][13]

In the Americas it appears from 1533, for a river crossing with two bridges at Cuzco and, in 1534, for the fare paid at Cartagena.^[14] Today it is above all the travel ticket in Latin America, the body of passengers, a short street or covered way between two streets, and a passage of a text or a piece of music.^[15][16][1] In Venezuela it also names a slow song in joropo rhythm, played on harp, cuatro and maracas.^[17]

Timeline

• c. 1200 – La fazienda de Ultra Mar, in a 13th-century copy, has pasaie for a crossing.^[3][2]
• 1222 – passatge “toll for passage” appears in a Latin charter of James I about the Barcelona dues.^[3]
• c. 1235 – the Fuero de Alcalá uses pasaje for the passage of flocks.^[3]
• 1277 – Alfonso X's astronomical works use passage for the passing of a sign.^[12]
• 1309 – the date the Breve diccionario gives for the word.^[7]
• 1492 – Nebrija's Latin dictionary glosses several words with nave o barca de passage “ferry boat”.^[4]
• 1533 – the first record in the Americas, at Cuzco.^[14]
• 1884 – the Academy adds the sense “all the passengers of one ship”.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of passing from one place to another.^[15][1]
2. A toll paid for passing through a place.^[15]
3. A place through which one passes; a strait between two islands or between an island and the mainland.^[15][1]
4. The fare paid for a sea or air journey.^[15] (especially Latin America) A ticket for a journey: Compré el pasaje a Lima con un mes de antelación.^[15][1]
5. (collective) All the passengers of a ship or aircraft.^[15][1]
6. A passage of a book, speech or piece of music.^[15][16]
7. A public way between two streets, sometimes covered; a short, narrow street.^[15][16]
8. (music) A skilful transition from one voice or key to another.^[15]
9. (Venezuela) A slow song of traditional inspiration in joropo rhythm.^[17]

Word family

• pasajero

Related words

• pasar
• paso
• pasaporte
• Catalan passatge
• French passage

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. pasaje
3. ^ a b c d e f g Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. pasaje
4. ^ a b Lleal, Coloma (dir.), DICCA-XV: Diccionario del castellano del siglo XV en la Corona de Aragón, Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, Grup d'Estudis d'Història de la Llengua (GHCL), https://ghcl.ub.edu/diccaxv, p. s.v. pasaje
5. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. passare
6. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. s.v. pasaje
7. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. paso
8. ^ Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. passatge
9. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. passagem
10. ^ Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 146
11. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 536
12. ^ a b Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. pasaje
13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 795
14. ^ a b Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. pasaje
15. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. pasaje
16. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. pasaje
17. ^ a b Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. pasaje