English
laissez-passer
Laissez-passer comes from French laissez-passer ‘pass’.
- Frenchc. 1600–presentlaissez-passer‘pass’
- Englishearliest quotation 2000same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Frenchc. 1600–presentlaissez-passer‘pass’
- Englishearliest quotation 2000same form
Earliest quotation: 2000, JG Ballard, Super-Cannes: “‘Find the British Consul, and Jane can claim she…”
Every English word from French laissez-passer
Today it means
noun A pass or permit; a document permitting the bearer to travel, sometimes issued as an emergency passport.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / French laissez-passer / laissez-passer