passer
English
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.
- (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 […]
Danish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pasər/, [ˈpʰasɐ]
Inflection
See also
- passer on the Danish Wikipedia.Wikipedia da
Etymology 2
See passere (“to pass”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /paseːr/, [pʰaˈseɐ̯ˀ]
Dutch
Pronunciation
audio (file) - Rhymes: -ɑsər
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)
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], 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)
- 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.
- 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:
- 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, transitive with de) to do without
- 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.
- (transitive with pour) to be thought to be, to be said to be, to be taken for
- 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
infinitive | simple | passer | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
compound | avoir or être + past participle | ||||||
present participle or gerund1 | simple | passant /pa.sɑ̃/ | |||||
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/ |
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 | |||||
pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir or être + past participle | ||||||
imperative | – | – | – | ||||
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:
(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). |
Synonyms
- (reflexive, to happen): se produire, arriver
Derived terms
- ça passe ou ça casse
- dépasser
- en passant
- et j’en passe
- il faut que jeunesse se passe
- j’en passe et des meilleures
- j’en passe et des meilleurs
- les chiens aboient, la caravane passe
- passage
- passation
- passe encore
- passement
- passer à autre chose
- passer à la casserole
- passer à la moulinette
- passer à la trappe
- passer à la vitesse supérieure
- passer à l’acte
- passer à tabac
- passer à travers les mailles du filet
- passer au crible
- passer au fil de l’épée
- passer au peigne fin
- passer aux aveux
- passer aux choses sérieuses
- passer commande
- passer comme une lettre à la poste
- passer crème
- passer de la pommade
- passer de vie à trépas
- passer du coq à l’âne
- passer en force
- passer en revue
- passer entre les mailles du filet
- passer fleur
- passer inaperçu
- passer la main
- passer la parole
- passer la rampe
- passer le flambeau
- passer le mot
- passer le poteau
- passer le relais
- passer le Rubicon
- passer le temps
- passer les bornes
- passer l’arme à gauche
- passer l’aspirateur
- passer l’éponge
- passer l’hiver
- passer maître
- passer outre
- passer par la tête
- passer par les armes
- passer par les mains
- passer pour
- passer ses nerfs
- passer son chemin
- passer son tour
- passer sous la table
- passer sous le bureau
- passer sous le nez
- passer sous les fourches caudines
- passer sous silence
- passer sur le billard
- passer un savon
- passez-moi l’expression
- repasser
- se passer de
- tour de passe-passe
- un ange passe
- y passer
Descendants
Further reading
- “passer”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams
Ladin
Etymology
From Vulgar Latin *passāre, derived from Latin passus (“step”, noun).
Conjugation
- Ladin conjugation varies from one region to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.
infinitive | passer, passé | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
auxiliary verb | avei | gerund | passan | |||
past participle | passé | |||||
person | singular | plural | ||||
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 | – |
— | passa, passeia | — | passon | passede | — |
Latin
Etymology
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) IPA(key): /ˈpas.ser/, [ˈpäs̠ːɛr]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈpas.ser/, [ˈpäsːer]
Noun
passer m (genitive passeris); third declension
- sparrow
- turbot
- 43 BCE – c. 17 CE, Ovid, 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 […]
- On the other hand, fish that revel in the grassy sand
- At contrā herbōsā piscēs luxantur harēnā
Declension
Third-declension noun.
Case | Singular | Plural |
---|---|---|
Nominative | passer | passerēs |
Genitive | passeris | passerum |
Dative | passerī | passeribus |
Accusative | passerem | passerēs |
Ablative | passere | passeribus |
Vocative | passer | passerēs |
Related terms
- passercula, passerculus
- passerīnus
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
- Romanian: pasăre
- Romansch: pasler
- Vulgar Latin:
- *passarum (see there for further descendants)
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.
infinitive | simple | passer | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
present participle1 or gerund2 | simple | passant | |||||
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 |
imperfect | passasse | passasses | passast | passassions | passassiez | passassent | |
(compound tenses) |
past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
pluperfect | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
imperative | – | – | – | ||||
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
References
- passer on Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330–1500) (in French)
Old French
Etymology
From Vulgar Latin *passāre, derived from Latin passus (“step”, noun).
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.
simple | compound | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
infinitive | passer | avoir passé | |||||
gerund | en passant | gerund of avoir + past participle | |||||
present participle | passant | ||||||
past participle | passé | ||||||
person | singular | plural | |||||
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 |
imperfect | passasse | passasses | passast | passissons, passissiens | passissoiz, passissez, passissiez | passassent | |
compound tenses |
past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
pluperfect | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
imperative | – | tu | – | nos | vos | – | |
— | passe | — | passons | passez | — |
Descendants
Further reading
- “pass”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.