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Where does the “passport” come from?

2021-03-09T06:07:34.661Z


"Vaccinal", "sanitary", "green" ... The word is flourishing. Le Figaro returns to its meaning.


Will it be necessary to bring them systematically?

Bars, restaurants, museums, cinemas ... To re-enter these public places, the question of presenting health proof emerges.

This passport could be declined in different forms:

"vaccine passport"

,

"health certificate"

,

"green passport"

... The editorial staff takes stock of its etymology.

Go from one port to another

The

"passport"

was born from the contraction between

"pass"

and

"port"

.

This document was issued by the police authority,

"to allow the crossing of the borders of certain States"

, notes Le Larousse.

It designates the

"passage"

,

"the outcome"

.

As the thesaurus specifies, the term appears in the language of Molière at the beginning of the 15th century.

Certificate issued by the authorities, it was used for the

"free movement of goods

."

The ancestor of our pass became a few years later a

"safe conduct issued by an authority"

, which guarantees

"the freedom of movement of a person."

"READ ALSO - Vaccination passport, health certificate ... the new lexicon of travel in the time of Covid-19

Note that in the 17th century, we distinguished the

"passport"

from

"safe conduct"

:

"the passport is given to friends, and safe conduct to enemies"

, we read in the old definition of Robert, from the Dictionary. Universal by Furetière (1690).

A "gallant" man, an "ugly" woman

At that time, it was said that a man

"had his passport"

when he was

"gallant, pleasant"

.

In the figurative sense, the word designated

"qualities, privileges, or characters of persons, which make them pass or receive in several places."

Likewise, it was said that a woman

"had her passport"

when she

"was ugly or old"

because she had the freedom

"to go everywhere without suspicion"

.

What remains of this definition, while the health crisis is reshaping our linguistic benchmarks?

From now on, the passport is also

“vaccine”

or

“health”

.

It is this document which would make it possible to prove that one has been vaccinated, or which would contain the health information of its owner (tests carried out, contamination, vaccination certificate ...), to have access to certain public services.

This new passport would still imply the idea of

"passage"

, of

"free movement"

, conditioned by the presentation of an official document.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2021-03-09

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