passive English · revision 10444

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1385|origins=fro passif|origins=la passivus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈpæs.ɪv/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English, [[bor|fro|passif|t=suffering, undergoing hardship]] and directly from Latin passīvus, capable of feeling or suffering,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from pass-, the past participle stem of patī, to suffer (see [[passion]], [[patient]]).^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Producing upset, of disease, about 1385 in Usk;^(Barnhart 1988) of matter, capable of being acted upon, and in grammar, the passive voice, the late 14th century (1388–98).^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Suffering, exposed to suffering, is from about 1400 and obsolete.^(OED 1989) Acted upon from without, as opposed to acting, is from 1413,^(OED 1989) and not active or operating from 1477.^(OED 1989) Submitting without resistance is from 1626.^(OED 1989) In Scots law a passive title is under a liability (1576–77).^(OED 1989)^(Hoad 1986) ''Passive resistance'' is attested in 1819, in Scott's ''Ivanhoe'', and was re-coined by Gandhi about 1906 in South Africa;^(Etymonline) ''passive-aggressive'' is by 1971.^(Etymonline) ''Passivity'' is from 1659.^(Barnhart 1988) A passive solar heating system, using no external power, is a modern sense.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1385 – producing upset.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1388 – the passive voice.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1413 – acted upon.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1626 – submissive.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1819 – passive resistance.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1971 – passive-aggressive.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Accepting or submitting without resistance; [[submissive]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Receiving an action without responding or acting in return.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Not taking part or operating; inactive.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(grammar)'' Of a verb form whose subject receives the action, as ''was broken''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Of a solar heating or cooling system, using no external power.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(grammar)'' The passive voice, or a verb in it.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[passively]]

+ * [[passiveness]]

+ * [[passivity]]

+ * [[passivate]]

+ * [[passivism]]

+ * [[unpassive]]

+ * [[passive-aggressive]]

+ * [[passive immunity]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[passion]]

+ * [[passionate]]

+ * [[patience]]

+ * [[patient]]

+ * [[active]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}