passer

See also: Passer and pâsser

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *peth₂-der.

Proto-Italic *pattus

Vulgar Latin passus

Proto-Italic *-āzi

▲

Vulgar Latin -ereinflu.

Vulgar Latin -āre

Vulgar Latin *passāre

Old French passerbor.

Middle English passen

English pass

Proto-Indo-European *-yósder.

Proto-Italic *-āzijos

Latin -āriusnom.

Latin -āriusbor.

Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz

Proto-West Germanic *-ārī

Old English -ere

Middle English -ere

English -er

English passer

From pass + -er.

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpɑːsə(ɹ)/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
(US) IPA^(key): /ˈpæsəɹ/
Rhymes: -æsə(ɹ)

Noun

passer (plural passers)

One who succeeds in passing a test, etc.
- 2008, David L. Streiner, Geoffrey R. Norman, Health Measurement Scales:
  The distributions of scores on the exam for passers and failers are plotted […]
One who passes something along; a distributor.
a passer of counterfeit banknotes
(sports) Someone who passes, someone who makes a pass.
- 1991, Rex Mossop, The Moose That Roared, Sydney: Ironbark Press, page 157:
  A superb passer of the ball, we expected him to wipe the floor with the opposition.
1. (American football) A football player who makes a forward pass, who may be (but not limited to) the quarterback.
(chess, informal) A passed pawn.
(archaic) One who passes; a passer-by.
- 1878, Henry James, The Europeans:
  There was a promise of it in the gorgeous purity of the western sky; there was an intimation in the mild, unimpertinent gaze of the passers of a certain natural facility in things.
- 1904, National Magazine, volume 20, page 147:
  Passers stopped and began to stare. A policeman was approaching up the street. Dave dodged back into the cab and banged the door.
(sociology) One who is able to "pass", or be accepted as a member of a race, sex or other group to which society would not otherwise regard them as belonging.
- 2003, Brooke Kroeger, Passing: When People Can't Be Who They Are:
  Explores the history, literature, and sociology of passing, and provides case studies of six individuals who are "passers," including a black man who passed as a white Jew and a lesbian naval officer who passed as straight.
- 2014, Risa Bear, Homecomings, page 69:
  Passers and would-be passers make every effort to be convincing in their chosen gender role […]

Translations

sports

Finnish: syöttäjä (fi), passari (fi)
German: Passer (de) m Passgeber (de) m

Anagrams

parses, sarpes, repass, Speras, spaers, Aspers, Serpas, spaser, Spares, prases, Spears, aspers, Arpses, Presas, presas, spears, sparse, spares

Danish

Etymology 1

From German Passer.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /pasər/, [ˈpʰasɐ]

Noun

passer c (singular definite passeren, plural indefinite passere)

compass, pair of compasses (tool for drawing circles and arcs)

Inflection

Declension of *passer*
common gender	singular		plural
common gender	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	passer	passeren	passere	passerne
genitive	passers	passerens	passeres	passernes

Etymology 2

See passere (“to pass”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /paseːr/, [pʰaˈseɐ̯ˀ]

Verb

passer or passér

imperative of passere

Dutch

Etymology

From passen (“to measure a size”) +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

Audio: (file)
Rhymes: -ɑsər

Noun

passer m (plural passers, diminutive passertje n)

compass (device used with a pencil to draw an arc or circle on paper)

Descendants

Negerhollands: passer
→ Papiamentu: paser
→ Saramaccan: pása

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French passer, from Old French passer, from Vulgar Latin *passāre, derived from Latin passus (“step”, noun).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /pa.se/ ~ /pɑ.se/
Audio: (file)
Audio (France (Agen)): (file)
Audio (France (Toulouse)): (file)
Audio (France (Vosges)): (file)
Audio (France (Brétigny-sur-Orge)): (file)
Audio (France (Vosges)): (file)
Audio (France (Lyon)): (file)
Audio (France (Somain)): (file)

Verb

passer

to go past
to cross (a border)
(law) to pass
passer une loi ― to pass a law
to spend (time)
J'ai passé les vacances en Espagne. ― I spent the holidays in Spain.

J'ai passé une splendide soirée chez toi. ― I had a great evening at your place.
to publish (a newspaper)
(transitive) to take, to sit (an exam or test)
J'ai réussi l'examen que j'avais passé en avril. ― I passed the exam that I took in April.
(intransitive) to pass (an exam or test)
Il est passé à l'examen. ― He passed the exam.
(dated) (transitive) to pass (an exam or test)
Il a passé l'examen. ― He passed the exam.
(public transportation) to run
Le train passe toutes les vingt minutes. ― The train runs every 20 minutes.
to exceed (a limit)
to percolate
to hand down, to pass on
to be allowed
(intransitive) to pass, to go (between two entities)
- 1908, Gaston Leroux, chapter 1, in Le Mystère de la chambre jaune [The Mystery of the Yellow Room]‎^[1], published 2009:
  L’assassin n’avait donc pas passé par là et ne pouvait se sauver par là […]
  The murderer, therefore, could not have entered that way and could not possibly escape that way.
(transitive) to show (a movie)
to go up (a grade)
to shift (change gear)
1. to go down
2. to go up
to stop by, to pop in
Il est passé nous voir. ― He stopped by to see us.

Je vais y passer demain pour mes affaires.
I'm going to stop by there tomorrow for my things.
to pass away, to die
(music) to spin (e.g. a disk)
(television) to show (be on television)
(sports) to pass (kick, throw, hit etc. the ball to another player)
(athletics) to pass (the relay baton)
to pass on (infect someone else with a disease)
(transitive) to put, to place, to slip (move a part of one's body somewhere else)
- 1908, Gaston Leroux, Le Mystère de la chambre jaune, 2009 ed., Wikisource, chap. 1; translated 1908 by anonymous, Margaret Jull Costa (ed.), as The Mystery of the Yellow Room, 2003 ed., Dedalus, →ISBN:
  [...] et, par-dessus les volets, les barreaux intacts, des barreaux à travers lesquels vous n’auriez pas passé le bras…
  [...] and, as well as those shutters, there were iron bars so close together that you could not even have got your arm through them.
to wipe, rub
Elle passe de la crème sur son ventre.
She's rubbing cream on her belly.
to skip a go
to put (make something undergo something)
(card games) to pass (not play upon one's turn)
(reflexive) to take place, to happen, to come to pass
Qu'est-ce qui s'est passé ici ? ― What happened here?
(reflexive, for time) to go by
(reflexive) to do without [with de ‘something’]
Je ne peux pas me passer de café le matin.
I can't do without a cup of coffee in the morning.
to don
Il passa son pantalon. ― He put on his pants.
(intransitive) to be thought to be, to be said to be, to be taken for [with pour ‘someone/something’]
faire passer quelqu'un pour quelque chose ― to make someone out to be something

se faire passer pour ― to pass oneself off as, to pose as, to impersonate

Usage notes

This verb uses the auxiliary verb avoir when used transitively (or with a transitive sense, even when the complement is omitted); otherwise (when it is intransitive), it uses être.

Conjugation

Conjugation of passer (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	compound	avoir or être + past participle
infinitive	simple	passer
present participle or gerund¹	simple	passant /pa.sɑ̃/
present participle or gerund¹	compound	ayant or étant + past participle
past participle		passé /pa.se/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	passe /pas/	passes /pas/	passe /pas/	passons /pa.sɔ̃/	passez /pa.se/	passent /pas/
	imperfect	passais /pa.sɛ/	passais /pa.sɛ/	passait /pa.sɛ/	passions /pa.sjɔ̃/	passiez /pa.sje/	passaient /pa.sɛ/
	past historic²	passai /pa.se/	passas /pa.sa/	passa /pa.sa/	passâmes /pa.sam/	passâtes /pa.sat/	passèrent /pa.sɛʁ/
	future	passerai /pa.sʁe/	passeras /pa.sʁa/	passera /pa.sʁa/	passerons /pa.sʁɔ̃/	passerez /pa.sʁe/	passeront /pa.sʁɔ̃/
	conditional	passerais /pa.sʁɛ/	passerais /pa.sʁɛ/	passerait /pa.sʁɛ/	passerions /pa.sə.ʁjɔ̃/	passeriez /pa.sə.ʁje/	passeraient /pa.sʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir or être + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir or être + past participle
	past anterior²	past historic of avoir or être + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir or être + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir or être + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	passe /pas/	passes /pas/	passe /pas/	passions /pa.sjɔ̃/	passiez /pa.sje/	passent /pas/
(simple tenses)	imperfect²	passasse /pa.sas/	passasses /pa.sas/	passât /pa.sa/	passassions /pa.sa.sjɔ̃/	passassiez /pa.sa.sje/	passassent /pa.sas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir or être + past participle
(compound tenses)	pluperfect²	imperfect subjunctive of avoir or être + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	~~nous~~	~~vous~~	–
simple		—	passe /pas/	—	passons /pa.sɔ̃/	passez /pa.se/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir or être + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir or être + past participle	simple imperative of avoir or être + past participle	—
¹ The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
² In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Synonyms

(reflexive, to happen): se produire, arriver

Derived terms

Descendants

→ Alemannic German: passiere
→ German: passieren
Haitian Creole: pase
Romanian: → pasa, → trece (semantic loan)

Anagrams

pressa

Ladin

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *passāre, derived from Latin passus (“step”, noun).

Verb

passer

to proceed

Conjugation

Ladin conjugation varies from one region to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.

Conjugation of passer (first conjugation)

person	singular			plural
infinitive	passer, passé
auxiliary verb	avei		gerund		passan
past participle	passé
person	first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative	ie	tu	el / ela	nos	vos	ei / eles
present	passe, passeie	passes, passeies	passa, passeia, passea	passon	passeis	passa, passeia
imperfect	passove	passoves	passova	passovan	passovais	passova
future	passaré	passaras	passarà	passaron	passareis	passarà
subjunctive	che ie	che tu	che el / ela	che nos	che vos	che ei / eles
present	passe, passeie	passes, passeies	passe, passeie	passon	passeis	passe
imperfect	passasse	passasses	passassa	passassan	passassais	passassa
imperative	–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
imperative	—	passa, passeia	—	passon	passede	—

Latin

Etymology

From *sparas- > *passar-, related to Ancient Greek σπαράσιον (sparásion), Proto-Italic *parezā.
From Proto-Italic *passros with a declension change from second to third, from Proto-Indo-European *p(e)t-tro-s (“who flies, bird”), from *peth₂- (“to fly”). Related to penna.

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈpas.sɛr]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈpas.ser]

Noun

passer m (genitive passeris); third declension

sparrow
- c. 84 BCE – 54 BCE, Catullus, Carmina 3.3–4:
  Passer mortuus est meae puellae.
  Passer, deliciae meae puellae […]
  My girl's sparrow is dead.
  The sparrow, my girl's pet […]
turbot
- 43 BCE – c. 17 CE, Ovidius, Halieutica 118–126:
  At contrā herbōsā piscēs luxantur harēnā
  ut scarus, ēpastās sōlus quī rūminat ēscās,
  fēcundumque genus mēnae lamyrusque smarisque
  atque immunda chromis, meritō vīlissima salpa
  atque avium phȳcis nīdōs imitāta sub undīs
  et squāmās tenuī suffūsus sanguine mullus,
  fulgentēs soleae candōre et concolor illīs
  passer et Hadriacō mīrandus lītore rhombus,
  tum leporēs lātī, tum mollēs tergore rānae […]
  On the other hand, fish that revel in the grassy sand
  such as the scar, the only one that chews over eaten up food,
  the prolific kind of the maena, lamyrus and smaris
  and the unclean chronic, the deservedly worthless salpa
  and the phycis that imitates the nests of birds under the waves
  and the mullet whose scales are suffused with tenous blood,
  and the sole flashing with whiteness and the turbot
  of the same colour, and the amazing flatfish on the Adriatic Shore,
  then the broad sea-hares, then the soft-bodied sea-frog […]

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	passer	passerēs
genitive	passeris	passerum
dative	passerī	passeribus
accusative	passerem	passerēs
ablative	passere	passeribus
vocative	passer	passerēs

Derived terms

Descendants

Catalan: passerell, pàssera
Corsican: passula
Dalmatian: paserain
Esperanto: pasero
Franco-Provençal: pâsserâ
French: passereau
Friulian: passare, passarat
Ido: pasero
Interlingua: passere
Istro-Romanian: pǫsăre
Italian: passero, passera
Occitan: passerat
Portuguese: pássaro
Romanian: pasăre
Romansh: pasler
Spanish: pájaro
Vulgar Latin:
- *passarum (see there for further descendants)
Translingual: → Passer, ⇒ Paludipasser

References

“passer”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“passer”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
“passer”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
De Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 449

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French passer.

Verb

passer

to pass; to go by
- 15th century, Rustichello da Pisa (original author), Mazarine Master (scribe), The Travels of Marco Polo, page 3, line 2:
  Cy aprés parle comment les deux freres passerent le desert
  (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Conjugation

Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.

Conjugation of passer

infinitive	compound	avoir + past participle
infinitive	simple	passer
present participle¹ or gerund²	simple	passant
present participle¹ or gerund²	compound	present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle		passé
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ie (i’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ilz, elles
(simple tenses)	present	passe	passes	passe	passons	passez	passent
	imperfect	passois, passoys	passois, passoys	passoit, passoyt	passions, passyons	passiez, passyez	passoient, passoyent
	past historic	passa	passas	passa	passasmes	passastes	passerent
	future	passerai, passeray	passeras	passera	passerons	passerez	passeront
	conditional	passerois, passeroys	passerois, passeroys	passeroit, passeroyt	passerions, passeryons	passeriez, passeryez	passeroient, passeroyent
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que ie (i’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ilz, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	passe	passes	passe	passons	passez	passent
(simple tenses)	imperfect	passasse	passasses	passast	passassions	passassiez	passassent
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
(compound tenses)	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	~~nous~~	~~vous~~	–
simple		—	passe	—	passons	passez	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
¹ The present participle was variable in gender and number until the 17th century (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], Une esthétique nouvelle: Honoré d'Urfé, correcteur de l'Astrée, p. 179). The French Academy would eventually declare it not to be declined in 1679.
² The gerund was held to be invariable by grammarians of the early 17th century, and was usable with preposition en, as in Modern French, although the preposition was not mandatory (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], op. cit., p. 180).

Descendants

French: passer
- → Alemannic German: passiere
- → German: passieren
- Haitian Creole: pase
- Romanian: → pasa, → trece (semantic loan)

References

passer on Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330–1500) (in French)

Norwegian Bokmål

Verb

passer

imperative of passere
present of passe

Old French

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *passāre, derived from Latin passus (“step”, noun).

Verb

passer

to pass; to pass by

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. The forms that would normally end in *-ss, *-sss, *-sst are modified to s, s, st. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

Conjugation of passer (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)

		simple			compound
infinitive		passer			avoir passé
gerund		en passant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		passant
past participle		passé
person		singular			plural
person		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	pas	passes	passe	passons	passez	passent
	imperfect	passoie, passeie, passoe, passeve	passoies, passeies, passoes, passeves	passoit, passeit, passot, passeve	passiiens, passiens	passiiez, passiez	passoient, passeient, passoent, passevent
	preterite	passai	passas	passa	passames	passastes	passerent
	future	passerai	passeras	passera	passerons	passeroiz, passereiz, passerez	passeront
	conditional	passeroie, passereie	passeroies, passereies	passeroit, passereit	passeriiens, passeriens	passeriiez, passeriez	passeroient, passereient
compound tenses	present perfect	present tense of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect tense of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	preterite tense of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future tense of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional tense of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que jo	que tu	qu’il	que nos	que vos	qu’il
simple tenses	present	pas	pas	past	passons	passez	passent
simple tenses	imperfect	passasse	passasses	passast	passissons, passissiens	passissoiz, passissez, passissiez	passassent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
compound tenses	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
imperative		—	passe	—	passons	passez	—

Descendants

Middle French: passer
- French: passer
  - → Alemannic German: passiere
  - → German: passieren
  - Haitian Creole: pase
  - Romanian: → pasa, → trece (semantic loan)
Norman: pâsser, pâssaïr
→ Middle Dutch: passen
- Dutch: passen
→ Middle English: passen, pasen, pacen
- English: pass, pace
- Scots: pass
- Yola: paaced (preterite)
→ Middle High German: passen
- German: passen

passer

English

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Translations

See also

Anagrams

Danish

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

Noun

Inflection

See also

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

Verb

Dutch

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Descendants

French

Etymology

Pronunciation

Verb

Usage notes

Conjugation

Synonyms

Derived terms

Descendants

Further reading

Anagrams

Ladin

Etymology

Verb

Conjugation

Latin

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Declension

Derived terms

Descendants

References

Middle French

Etymology

Verb

Conjugation

Descendants

References

Norwegian Bokmål

Verb

Old French

Etymology

Verb

Conjugation

Descendants

Further reading