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Webster 1913 Edition

Passport

Pass′port

,
Noun.
[F.
passeport
, orig., a permission to leave a port or to sail into it;
passer
to pass +
port
a port, harbor. See
Pass
, and
Port
a harbor.]
1.
Permission to pass; a document given by the competent officer of a state, permitting the person therein named to pass or travel from place to place, without molestation, by land or by water.
Caution in granting
passports
to Ireland.
Clarendon.
2.
A document carried by neutral merchant vessels in time of war, to certify their nationality and protect them from belligerents; a sea letter.
3.
A license granted in time of war for the removal of persons and effects from a hostile country; a safe-conduct.
Burrill.
4.
Figuratively: Anything which secures advancement and general acceptance.
Sir P. Sidney.
His
passport
is his innocence and grace.
Dryden.

Webster 1828 Edition

Passport

P`ASSPORT

, n.
1.
A written license from a king or other proper authority, granting permission or safe conduct for one to pass through his territories, or to pass from one country to another, or to navigate a particular sea without hindrance or molestation.
2.
A license for importing or exporting contraband goods or movables without paying the usual duties.
3.
That which enables one to pass with safety or certainty.
His passport is his innocence and grace.

Definition 2024

passport

passport

English

Noun

passport ‎(plural passports)

  1. An official document normally used for international journeys, which proves the identity and nationality of the person for whom it was issued.
    You will have to bring your passport to prove who you are.
    • 1956, Delano Ames, chapter 17, in Crime out of Mind:
      Dagobert gave him back his passport. He re-pocketed it indifferently; a talisman which had lost its potency.
  2. (by extension, informal) Any document that allows entry or passage.
  3. (figuratively) Something which enables someone to do or achieve something.
    The tenor's voice was his passport to the international concert circuit.

Derived terms

Translations

any document allowing entry or passage

See also

Anagrams

Etymology

From French passeport, from passer ‎(“pass”) + port ‎(“port”). Compare portpass.

Pronunciation

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