Etymograph

English

pass

Pass comes from Middle English passen, from Old French passer, from Vulgar Latin *passō ‘to step’, from Latin passus ‘a step’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peth₂-1‘to spread, stretch out’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pattus1reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpassus1‘a step’
  4. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*passō1‘to step, walk, pass’reconstructed
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400passer1‘to step, walk, pass’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500passen1‘to pass’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1485pass1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English pass
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte d'Arthur: “And within three dayes twelve knyghtes passed uppon hem;…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peth₂-Wiktionary, English pass‘to spread, stretch out’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pattusWiktionary, English passreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpassusWiktionary, English pass‘a step’
  4. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*passōWiktionary, English pass‘to step, walk, pass’reconstructed
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400passerWiktionary, English pass‘to step, walk, pass’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500passenWiktionary, English pass‘to pass’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1485passWiktionary, English pass. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 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’

mile, pace, pas, 12 more

Another origin of pass

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpandō
  2. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*passāre‘go through, pass by’reconstructed
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400passer‘to pass’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500passen‘to pass’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pas
  6. Englishtodaypass

Today it means

verb To move or be moved from one place to another.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “pass”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *peth₂- / pass

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