passer French · revision 16248

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1050, Vie de saint Alexis|origins=la pandō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /pa.se/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /pɑ.se/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''passer'''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|passer]], [[inh|la-vul|*passō|alt=*passāre|t=to cross]], derived from [[m|la|passus|t=step]] (whence [[pas]]).^(DHLF 1992)^(FEW|7, 707a)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary) Diez derived it from the supine “passum” of [[m|la|pandō|t=to spread out]], since the Romance verbs are mainly transitive, but Littré preferred “passus”, from which the sense comes more easily.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|passare]], [[oc|passar]], [[es|pasar]] and [[pt|passar]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==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.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==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).^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) At once applied to time, it meant “to elapse” (1050) and “to die” (''passer de ceste vie'', about 1165), whence [[trépasser]].^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) About 1100 it meant “to spend (a day)” and “to go beyond”.^(TLFi) “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.^(TLFi) In law it meant “to settle, decide” from the 14th century, hence ''passer un acte'' and [[passation]] (1428).^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ Its many derivatives include [[passage]] (about 1080), [[passable]] (13th century), [[passager]] (about 1330), ''passé'' as a noun (1539) and ''impasse'', coined by Voltaire (1761).^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1050 – “To cross a place”, and of time, in the ''Vie de saint Alexis''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1080 – ''Passage''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * c. 1100 – “To spend (a day)” in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1165 – ''Passer de ceste vie'' “to die”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1370–72 – ''Passer outre'' in Oresme.^(TLFi)

+ * 1604 – ''Passer pour''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1655 – ''Y passer'' in Molière.^(TLFi)

+ * 1761 – Voltaire coins ''impasse''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To pass, to go past, through or by: ''passer devant la maison'', ''passer par Lyon''.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # To cross: ''passer la frontière''.^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(of time)'' To pass, to elapse; to spend (time): ''passer ses vacances à la mer''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To go beyond, to exceed: ''passer les bornes''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To take, to sit (an exam); ''(intransitive)'' to pass, to move up.^(Wiktionary)

+ # To hand, to pass on: ''passe-moi le sel''.^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Passer pour'': to be taken for.^(TLFi)

+ # ''(public transport)'' To run: ''le bus passe toutes les heures''.^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Se passer'': to happen, ''se passer de'': to do without.^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[passage]]

+ * [[passation]]

+ * [[passable]]

+ * [[passant]]

+ * [[passe]]

+ * [[passerelle]]

+ * [[passeur]]

+ * [[passoire]]

+ * [[passager]]

+ * [[passé]]

+ * [[impasse]]

+ * [[trépasser]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[pas]]

+ * [[la|passus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}