Etymologically
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passer

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Pronunciation

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

Forms

passer[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French passer, inherited from Vulgar Latin *passāre (“to cross”), derived from passus (“step”) (whence pas).[2][3][4][5][1] Diez derived it from the supine “passum” of pandō (“to spread out”), since the Romance verbs are mainly transitive, but Littré preferred “passus”, from which the sense comes more easily.[6]

Cognate with Italian passare, Occitan passar, Spanish pasar and Portuguese passar.[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Vie de saint Alexis (about 1050) it means “to cross a place”, and transitively le saint cors ne pourent passer ultra “they could not carry the holy body further”; the same text uses it of time passing.[7][2]

Semantic evolution

The verb kept the Latin sense “to cross a place, to change position”, of things and people, with figurative uses such as passer outre “to go beyond, to disregard” (1370–72).[2][7] At once applied to time, it meant “to elapse” (1050) and “to die” (passer de ceste vie, about 1165), whence trépasser.[2][7] About 1100 it meant “to spend (a day)” and “to go beyond”.[7] “To be accepted” is found about 1220, passer pour “to be considered as” in 1604 and y passer “to undergo (death, a punishment)” in 1655.[7] In law it meant “to settle, decide” from the 14th century, hence passer un acte and passation (1428).[4]

Its many derivatives include passage (about 1080), passable (13th century), passager (about 1330), passé as a noun (1539) and impasse, coined by Voltaire (1761).[4]

Timeline

  • c. 1050 – “To cross a place”, and of time, in the Vie de saint Alexis.[7]
  • c. 1080 – Passage.[4]
  • c. 1100 – “To spend (a day)” in the Chanson de Roland.[7]
  • c. 1165 – Passer de ceste vie “to die”.[7]
  • 1370–72 – Passer outre in Oresme.[7]
  • 1604 – Passer pour.[7]
  • 1655 – Y passer in Molière.[7]
  • 1761 – Voltaire coins impasse.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To pass, to go past, through or by: passer devant la maison, passer par Lyon.[1][7]
  2. To cross: passer la frontière.[1]
  3. (of time) To pass, to elapse; to spend (time): passer ses vacances à la mer.[7][1]
  4. To go beyond, to exceed: passer les bornes.[7][1]
  5. To take, to sit (an exam); (intransitive) to pass, to move up.[1]
  6. To hand, to pass on: passe-moi le sel.[1]
  7. Passer pour: to be taken for.[7]
  8. (public transport) To run: le bus passe toutes les heures.[1]
  9. Se passer: to happen, se passer de: to do without.[1][8]

Word family

  • passage
  • passation
  • passable
  • passant
  • passe
  • passerelle
  • passeur
  • passoire
  • passager
  • passé
  • impasse
  • trépasser

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 707a
  4. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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
  8. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert