bypass English · revision 39776

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=1848}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /ˈbaɪpɑːs/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /ˈbaɪpæs/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It was formed in English from [[by]] and [[pass]],^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002) originally from the verbal phrase.^(Etymonline) Dictionary.com takes the noun as apparently a back-formation from [[m|en|by-passage]].^(Dictionary.com 2016)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A small pipe that lets gas or steam pass around a closed valve or cock, for instance for a pilot light: 1848.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) The verb, in the sense "to pass by", is implied in ''bypassed'' in 1823 according to Etymonline,^(Etymonline) and Merriam-Webster dates a verb sense to 1736,^(MWU 2024) but the OED's verb is from 1886, meaning to furnish with a bypass.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the gasworks the word spread to electricity, an alternative path for current (1914),^(OED 2026) and to roads: a road built to carry through traffic around a congested town is recorded from 1922, in the ''Daily Mail''.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) Figurative use of the noun dates from 1928, in a letter of T. E. Lawrence,^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) and the verb meaning to go round or avoid a place also from 1928;^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) its figurative sense, to ignore or get round a rule or person, follows in 1941.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) In aeronautics, ''bypass'' engines are recorded from 1948.^(OED 2026) In surgery the word named an alternative channel for the circulation of the blood during a heart operation from 1957, and a permanent new route around a blocked artery from 1964.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1823 – verb, to pass by (implied in ''bypassed'').^(Etymonline)

+ * 1848 – a secondary pipe around a valve.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1914 – an alternative electrical path.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1922 – a road around a town.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1928 – verb, to go round, avoid; figurative noun.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1941 – verb, figuratively to get round.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1957 – a channel for blood during heart surgery.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[road]] that carries traffic around a town or city centre rather than through it.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # A surgical operation that sends blood around a blocked [[artery]], especially of the [[heart]]; also the new channel itself.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # A secondary pipe, channel or electrical [[circuit]] that lets a flow pass around a part of the main one.^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To go round a place rather than through it: ''The new road bypasses the village.''^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # To avoid or ignore a person, rule or procedure: ''They bypassed the committee and went straight to the director.''^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # To provide with a bypass, or send a fluid through one.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bypasser]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[by]]

+ * [[pass]]

+ * [[detour]]

+ * [[byway]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}