passager

Forms

passager m (plural passagers, feminine passagère)^[1] Old French and Middle French passagier.^[2][3][1]

Etymology

It is formed from French passage + -ier, first as passagier.^[2][3][4] The noun and the adjective are both formed from that noun and are one word;^[2][5] Wiktionary takes the adjective from the noun.^[1] The base noun comes from passer, which goes back to Vulgar Latin *passō, from Latin passus (“step, pace”).^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Anglo-Norman passager meant a traveller and a ferryman or boatman in the first half of the 13th century.^[8] The TLFi's first record is passagier “ferryman” in the Vœux du Paon (about 1330).^[2]

Semantic evolution

The sense “ferryman” lasted until d'Aubigné (1574), and the sense “traveller on a journey” is found in Amyot (1559); today's “passenger” on a ship, and later a plane or car, grew from it.^[2][9][10] The adjective first described a vessel that carried people across water (end of the 14th century, Froissart: vassiaus passagierz, nef pasagière).^[2][5][11]

From the 16th century the adjective meant “only passing through” (1547) and “short-lived” (1564, Thierry: Nostre passagere vie “our passing life”); oiseau passager “bird of passage” is also from 1564.^[2][11] The sense “busy, much used”, of a street, is given by Stendhal in 1817;^[2][12][10] Littré called it a provincialism, from Picardy and Geneva.^[2][12][10]

English took the Old French noun in the 14th century as passager “passer-by, traveller”; the ⟨n⟩ of passenger was added in the early 15th century.^[6]

Timeline

• early 13th century – Anglo-Norman passager “traveller, ferryman” is recorded.^[8]
• c. 1330 – Passagier “ferryman” appears in the Vœux du Paon.^[2]
• mid-14th century – English passager “traveller” is recorded.^[6]
• end of the 14th century – Froissart uses the adjective for ships carrying passengers.^[2][11]
• 1547 – Mellin de Saint-Gelais uses it for “only passing through”.^[2]
• 1559 – Amyot uses the noun for a traveller.^[2][10]
• 1564 – Thierry has passagere vie “passing life” and oiseau passager.^[2][11]
• 1609 – The adverb passagèrement is recorded.^[2]
• 1817 – Stendhal uses it for a busy place.^[2][12]

Meanings

Noun

1. A passenger, someone carried on a ship, plane or vehicle who is not crew or driver: Les passagers ont embarqué à l'heure.^[9][5][1]
2. Passager clandestin: a stowaway.^[9][1]
3. (archaic) A traveller.^[9][1]

Adjective

1. (dated) Only passing through a place: un hôte passager, oiseau passager, a migrating bird.^[9][11][5]
2. Transitory, short-lived, fleeting: une fatigue passagère.^[9][5][1]
3. (familiar) Of a street: busy, much used.^[9][5]

Word family

• passagèrement

Related words

• passage
• passer
• passant
• English passenger

Usage notes

The Grand Robert gives two headwords: passager 1 is a verb of horsemanship, to make a horse perform the passage, from passage 2 and a reworking of the older passéger, from Italian passeggiare (1678); passager 2, the noun and adjective of this entry, is from passage 1.^[3] Littré also lists the riding verb separately.^[10] The TLFi numbers this word passager 1.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Wiktionnaire (French Wiktionary), fr.wiktionary.org
5. ^ a b c d e f Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
11. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
12. ^ a b c Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF