passare

Forms

passare (first-person singular present pàsso, first-person singular past historic passài, past participle passàto, auxiliary (intransitive) èssere or (transitive) avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *passāre (“to step, to go through”), a verb formed in spoken Latin from the noun passus (“step, pace”).^[2][3][4][1] DEI describes it as a verb of Italy and the western Romance languages:^[5] it is French passer, Occitan pasar, Catalan passar, Spanish pasar and Portuguese passar, and Meyer-Lübke adds Logudorese and Engadine forms.^[3][6]

The Latin noun is formed on the participle stem of pandō (“to spread out, extend”).^[7][1][8] De Vaan traces that verb to a nasal present of the root Proto-Indo-European *peth₂- (“to spread”), also seen in Ancient Greek πίτνημι (pítnēmi, “to spread out”).^[7][1]

DELI takes the noun passo “step” in Italian for a back-formation from the verb, while Nocentini derives it directly from the Latin noun.^[2][3] Because the Italian verb is so close to the French one, many French phrases and compounds were copied in Italian: passaporto follows passeport, passatempo follows passe-temps, and the Italian phrase for executing by firing squad follows passer par les armes, recorded in 1611.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in Giacomo da Lentini, before 1250, with the sense “to go from one place to another, cross the space between them”.^[2][4] GDLI quotes the line: “quando passo e non guardo / a voi, viso amoruso” (when I pass and do not look at you, loving face).^[9]

Semantic evolution

Most of the modern senses were in place by the 14th century.^[2] An anonymous 13th-century text uses the verb of time going by, Bonvesin da la Riva (before 1315) for piercing someone through, the Novellino (late 13th century) for crossing a place, and Dante for spending one's time.^[2] Boccaccio (1336) uses it for going away, ceasing to be,^[2] and in old Tuscan the infinitive used as a noun could mean death, the passing of a person.^[10] Dante's line “non ragioniam di lor, ma guarda e passa” (let us not speak of them, but look and pass on) remains proverbial.^[11][12]

The senses of being accepted came later: “to have a reputation as” in Giovanni Pontano (before 1503), “to be approved” in Bernardo Segni (before 1558), and “to be promoted to a higher rank” in Luigi Giuglaris (before 1653).^[2] “To send, hand on” is recorded before 1598, “to apply over a surface” in Lorenzo Lippi before 1665, and “to put through a food mill” in 1958.^[2] The use for putting someone through on the telephone is recent.^[13]

French lies behind several phrases: passar sopra “to overlook” copies passer par dessus, and DELI quotes an 1833 military dictionary on passare per le armi, once a punishment by which the culprit had to pass between two files of pikemen, later carried out by musket fire.^[2]

Timeline

• Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses passare for going from one place to another.^[2][4]
• 13th century – The verb is used of time going by.^[2]
• Before 1315 – Bonvesin da la Riva uses it for piercing through.^[2]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses it for spending one's time.^[2]
• 1336 – Boccaccio uses it for going away, ceasing to be.^[2]
• Before 1558 – Bernardo Segni uses it for being approved.^[2]
• 1611 – French passer par les armes is recorded, the model of passare per le armi.^[2]
• Before 1653 – Luigi Giuglaris uses it for being promoted.^[2]
• 1958 – The sense “to put through a food mill” is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To pass, go through or past a place, usually without stopping: Il corteo è passato sotto le nostre finestre.^[4][14][15]
2. To call in, stop by somewhere for a short time: Domani passo in farmacia.^[4][15][16]
3. Of a road or river, to run through or by a place.^[4][16]
4. Of time, to go by, elapse; transitively, to spend a period of time: Abbiamo passato una settimana in montagna.^[4][11][1]
5. To come to an end, go away, of a pain, a storm or a mood: Il mal di denti mi è passato.^[11][4]
6. To move on to another place, state, side or subject: passare all'opposizione, passare a un altro argomento.^[4][14][1]
7. To be approved, of a law or proposal; to pass an examination, be promoted to the next class.^[11][4][1]
8. To be taken for, be considered, with per: Con quella barba passa per un professore.^[4][15][1]
9. To cross something; to go beyond, exceed a limit.^[4][1][16]
10. To hand, give, pass on something; on the telephone, to put someone through.^[4][1][13]
11. (cooking) To mash food through a food mill or sieve.^[4][2]
12. To go through hardships, to undergo: passarne tante.^[4][1]

Word family

• passata
• passato
• passante
• passatempo
• passaporto
• passaparola
• passamontagna
• passabile
• passeggiare
• passatore
• ripassare
• oltrepassare
• sorpassare
• trapassare

Related words

• passarsi
• passaggio
• passo
• passeggero
• passerella
• Latin passus
• French passer

Usage notes

Used intransitively the verb takes essere (sono passato da te), used transitively avere (ho passato l'esame).^[1][15][16] Set phrases include passare di moda “to go out of fashion”, passare inosservato “to go unnoticed”, passare a miglior vita “to die”, and ne è passata di acqua sotto i ponti “a lot of time has gone by”.^[4][15]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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 r s t Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2792
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 12, 739
10. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET, p. 3, 818
11. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
12. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET, p. 3, 812
13. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. Supplemento 2009
14. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
15. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
16. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana