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passage

Etymology and origin of the French word passage

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 1100, Chanson de Roland
Ultimate origin
Latin (passus)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French passer
French passage

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /pa.saʒ/[1]
  • IPA: /pɑ.saʒ/[1]

Forms

passage m (plural passages)[1]

Etymology

It is from French passer + -age.[2][3][4][1] passer continues popular Latin Vulgar Latin *passō, derived from passus (“step, pace”) (see pas).[4][5]

Compare Old Occitan passatge, Spanish pasaje, Portuguese passagem and Italian passaggio.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) it is a pass through the mountains: Sel puis trover à port ne à passage.[2][6][7]

Semantic evolution

About 1165 it named a sea crossing, prendre passage “to embark”, and the passage to the Holy Land, Villehardouin speaks of pilgrims who could not pay their passage.[2][6] Chrétien de Troyes uses it for a part of a text (1176).[2] The act of passing, of an army, of migrating birds, and the place where one passes, a way through, followed; a covered arcade of shops in Paris is a passage.[6][8][7] De passage “passing through, temporary” is in Rousseau (about 1770).[9] Passage protégé and passage clouté belong to the highway code, and in astronomy a passage is the transit of a planet.[7][1]

Timeline

  • c. 1100 – A mountain pass, Chanson de Roland.[2]
  • c. 1165 – A sea crossing, Roman de Troie.[2]
  • 1176 – A part of a text, Chrétien de Troyes.[2]
  • c. 1330 – Passager.[4]
  • 1492 – A difficult passage in mountain climbing.[9]
  • 1769 – Prostituée de passage.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Passing, the act of going through or past: le passage des oiseaux, passage interdit, être de passage.[7][8][1]
  2. A crossing, a journey: le passage de la Manche, payer son passage.[7][2]
  3. A way through, a passageway; a covered arcade: laisser le passage, passage souterrain, passage clouté, a pedestrian crossing.[7][1]
  4. A change from one state to another: le passage à l'euro, passage dans la classe supérieure.[1]
  5. A passage of a text or a piece of music.[2][1]
  6. (astronomy) A transit.[1]

Word family

  • passager
  • passagèrement

Usage notes

A separate noun passage (1611, passège, 1625), borrowed from Italian passeggio, names in horsemanship a short, highly cadenced trot.[3][10][8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  6. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  9. ^ a b c Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  10. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
Cite this entry

“Passage.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/passage. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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