Passport - Dictionary Definition and Overview

Passport :  (noun)
1: any authorization to pass or go somewhere; "the pass to visit had a strict time limit" [syn: pass]
2: a document issued by a country to a citizen allowing that person to travel abroad and re-enter the home country
3: any quality or characteristic that gains a person a favorable reception or acceptance or admission; "her pleasant personality is already a recommendation"; "his wealth was not a passport into the exclusive circles of society" [syn: recommendation]

Based on WordNet 2.0

Passport : \Pass"port\, n. [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.

Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

PASSPORT, SEA BRIEF, or SEA LETTER, maritime law. A paper containing a permission from the neutral state to the captain or master of a ship or vessel to proceed on the voyage proposed; it usually contains his name and residence; the name, property, description, tonnage and destination of the ship; the nature and quantity of the cargo; the place from whence it comes, and its destination; with such other matters as the practice of the place requires. 2. This document is indispensably necessary in time of war for the safety of every neutral vessel. Marsh. Ins. B. 1, c. 9, s. 6, p. 406, b. 3. In most countries of continental Europe passports are given to travellers; these are intended to protect them on their journey from all molestation, while they are obedient to the laws. Passports are also granted by the secretary of state to persons travelling abroad, certifying that they are citizens of the United States. 9 Pet. 692. Vide 1 Kent, Com. 162, 182; Merl. Repert. h.t.

Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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