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Passport

 - 3 dictionary results

pass⋅port

[pas-pawrt, -pohrt, pahs-]
–noun
1. an official document issued by the government of a country to one of its citizens and, varying from country to country, authorizing travel to foreign countries and authenticating the bearer's identity, citizenship, right to protection while abroad, and right to reenter his or her native country.
2. anything that ensures admission or acceptance: A good education can be your passport to success.
3. any authorization to pass or go somewhere.
4. a document issued to a ship, esp. to a neutral merchant ship in time of war, granting or requesting permission to proceed without molestation in certain waters.
5. a certificate intended to secure admission.

Origin:
1490–1500; earlier passeport < MF, equiv. to passe- (s. of passer to pass ) + port port 1


pass⋅port⋅less, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To Passport
pass·port   (pās'pôrt', -pōrt')   
n.  
  1. An official government document that certifies one's identity and citizenship and permits a citizen to travel abroad.

  2. An official permit issued by a foreign country allowing one to transport goods or to travel through that country.

  3. An official document issued by an allied foreign government to a ship, especially a neutral merchant ship in time of war, authorizing it to enter and travel through certain waters freely.

  4. Something that gives one the right or privilege of passage, entry, or acceptance: Hard work was her passport to success.


[French passeport, from Old French : passer, to pass; see pass + port, port; see port1.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

passport 
c.1500, from M.Fr. passeport "authorization to pass through a port" to enter or leave a country (15c.), from passe, imper. of O.Fr. passer "to pass" + port "port."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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