Passage

How to spell passage

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce passage

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does passage mean?

1. nounA short section of a written work, piece of music, or speech.
2. nounA narrow corridor or way through which one can walk.
3. nounA journey, especially one by sea or air, or the right to make it.
4. nounThe process of a proposed law being formally approved by a legislature.

Passage in a sentence

• The teacher asked the class to read the opening passage aloud.

• A dark passage led from the kitchen to the back garden.

• The family booked passage on a steamer bound for New York.

• The passage of the new tax bill took several months of debate.

• She underlined a striking passage in the novel.

• Boxes cluttered the narrow passage between the offices.

Where does passage come from?

Language of origin: French

Passage entered English in the 1200s from Old French, where 'passage' meant a crossing, a way through, or the act of passing. That noun was built on the verb 'passer', meaning 'to pass' or 'to go by', which itself descends from the Latin 'passus', meaning 'a step' or 'a pace', the same root that gives us 'pace' and 'pass'. The original sense in English was very literal: the act of moving from one place to another, as in a sea crossing for which one paid a fare. From that core idea the word branched in several directions, coming to mean a corridor you pass along, a section of a book or piece of music you pass through while reading or playing, and the formal passing of a law through a legislature. The single 's' double letter and the soft '-age' ending preserve the French shape almost untouched, which is why the spelling looks the way it does.

How the word is built

• pass (to go, move past)
• -age (noun suffix denoting action or result)