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impasse

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Etymology and origin of the French word impasse

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1730 Académie universelle des jeux More words from the 18th century
Ultimate origin
Vulgar Latin *passō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French passer
German passieren
French passe
French impasse
English impasse
From the same root
French dépasser ← passer
French passage ← passer
French passé ← passer
French repasser ← passer

Pronunciation

Forms

impasse f (plural impasses)[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French im- + passe, the base being the deverbal noun of passer.[2][3][1] The FEW files it under Vulgar Latin *passō.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in 1730, as faire l'Inpasse in the Académie universelle des jeux, for playing a lower card in the hope of drawing out an opponent's intermediate card.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In 1761 Voltaire used impasse to replace cul-de-sac for a little street without an exit, explaining that a street is like neither a cul nor a sac.[2][3][5] Diderot gave it the figurative sense “situation with no way out” in 1773;[2][3] other sources date this sense only from Bescherelle in 1845.[6][7] In economics it was specialized in impasse budgétaire (1957).[3][6]

School slang took up the card-game term in 1936 for a part of the syllabus that a pupil chose not to learn, hoping not to be questioned on it, and faire l'impasse sur has since spread to other uses.[2][3] English borrowed impasse in 1763 for a blind alley, and used it figuratively from about 1840, perhaps from whist.[5]

Timeline

  • 1730 – Faire l'Inpasse in the Académie universelle des jeux.[2]
  • 1761 – Voltaire uses it for a street with no exit, instead of cul-de-sac.[2][3]
  • 1763 – English borrows impasse.[5]
  • 1773 – Diderot uses it figuratively in Jacques le fataliste.[2]
  • 1829 – The card-game sense in La Mode.[6][7]
  • 1936 – School slang uses it for a part of the syllabus left unlearned.[2][3]
  • 1957 – Impasse budgétaire in Le Monde.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A small street with no exit, a dead end, cul-de-sac: habiter au fond d'une impasse.[8][9]
  2. (figurative) A situation with no favourable way out, a deadlock: les pourparlers sont dans l'impasse.[8][10]
  3. Impasse budgétaire: a budget deficit to be covered by borrowing.[9][6]
  4. (card games) A finesse in bridge or belote: faire l'impasse au roi.[8]
  5. Faire l'impasse sur: to skip a part of an exam syllabus, or more generally to leave something out of account.[8][10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 713b
  5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  7. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
  10. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
Cite this entry

“Impasse.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/impasse. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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