English
pass
Pass comes from Middle English passen, from Old French passer, from Vulgar Latin *passō ‘to step’, from Latin passus ‘a step’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peth₂-‘to spread, stretch out’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pattusreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpassus‘a step’
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*passō‘to step, walk, pass’reconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400passer‘to step, walk, pass’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500passen‘to pass’
- Englishearliest quotation 1485pass
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peth₂-‘to spread, stretch out’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pattusreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpassus‘a step’
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*passō‘to step, walk, pass’reconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400passer‘to step, walk, pass’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500passen‘to pass’
- Englishearliest quotation 1485pass
Earliest quotation: 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte d'Arthur: “And within three dayes twelve knyghtes passed uppon hem;…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *peth₂- ‘to spread, stretch out’
repeat, compete, pen, expansion, petition, helicopter, expand, patent, competitor, feather, symptom, perpetual, impetus, perpetuate, spawn, expanse, perpetuity, pennant, petulant, pinion, impetuous, patina, penna, patella, petulance, pata, 83 more
through Latin passus ‘a step’
Another origin of pass
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpandō
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*passāre‘go through, pass by’reconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400passer‘to pass’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500passen‘to pass’
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500pas
- Englishtodaypass
Today it means
verb To move or be moved from one place to another.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *peth₂- / pass