pace

PAYS/peɪs/

As a prepositionPAY-see

Pluralpaces

Verbpaces, pacing, paced

15 meanings of pace

Practice

1
how fastnouncountable or uncountable
The speed or rate at which someone or something moves or makes progress.
The negotiations moved at a glacial pace over several months.
She set a brisk pace, and the rest of the group struggled to keep up.
UsageUsually at a slow or brisk pace; you set the pace or keep pace with someone.
Similarspeed, rate, tempo, clip, velocity
Note
Here speed has come loose from the feet. Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene (1590) already gives a lion and a tiger a "greedy pace" as they rush from the forest.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
Edmund Spenser wrote The Faerie Queene. en.wikisource.org
The Faerie Queene was first published in 1590, including the book containing this quotation. en.wikisource.org
The poem describes a lion and a tiger rushing from the forest with a “greedy pace.” talus.artsci.wustl.edu
2
back and forthverbtransitive or intransitive
To walk back and forth within a small area.
The expectant father paced the hospital corridor for hours.
Whenever he is deep in thought, he tends to pace the length of his office.
UsageOften pace up and down; you can pace the room or pace around it.
Similarwalk, patrol, tread
3
nouncountable
A single step taken in walking or running, or the distance covered by one step, used loosely as a measure of distance.
The instructions said to walk twenty paces before turning left.
She stepped back a pace so the photo would fit everyone in.
Similarstep, stride
Note
Measuring on foot is only as exact as its convention. A pace can be a rough guess or a fixed unit, and sometimes it means a double step. The word turns up in the duel, where opponents stand ten paces apart, and in distances walked out on the ground, such as a field's perimeter put at 219 paces. That walking-out is the verb of measuring at work.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts
A pace may be an approximate measure or a fixed unit. en.wiktionary.org
A pace sometimes means a double step. en.wikipedia.org
A duel with opponents ten paces apart occurs as an illustrative example. en.wiktionary.org
A field perimeter estimated at 219 paces occurs as an illustrative example. en.wiktionary.org
The verb pace can mean measuring by walking. en.wiktionary.org
4
walking stylenouncountable
A manner or style of walking, running, or dancing; the rate and way a person moves on their feet.
The instructor corrected her pace until each step flowed smoothly.
Even from across the parking lot, I knew my uncle by his slow, limping pace.
Similargait, step, tread, walk
5
lead runnersverbtransitive
To set the speed in a race, especially for other competitors to follow.
A veteran marathoner paced the lead group for the opening half.
Coaches asked him to pace the younger athletes during the trial.
UsageOften passive, as a rider is paced by another; in active use one runner paces the others.
Similarlead
Note
The pacer works for someone else's benefit. W. F. Grew's The Cycle Industry (1921) describes long track races "paced by tandems".
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
The Cycle Industry was written by W. F. Grew and first published in 1921. en.wikisource.org
Grew describes longer track races using the exact words “paced by tandems”. upload.wikimedia.org
Pacers assist other racers. upload.wikimedia.org
6
fast bowlingadjective
In cricket, describing a bowler who delivers the ball at high speed.
The selectors favored a tall pace bowler suited to the bouncy pitch.
England's pace attack overwhelmed the batsmen on the opening day.
UsageUsed before a noun, as in pace bowler and pace attack.
Similarfast
Note
The contrast it draws is with spin. The speed it names belongs to the bowler, whereas the pitch's pace is what the ground does with that speed.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
Pace bowling contrasts with spin bowling. en.wikipedia.org
A bowler's pace concerns delivery speed, whereas a pitch's pace concerns the ball's retention of speed after bouncing. en.wiktionary.org

Less common meanings

7
verbtransitive
To measure a distance by walking it and counting the steps taken.
The surveyor paced the boundary before setting up his equipment.
Engineers sometimes pace a site quickly to get a rough measurement.
8
horse movementnouncountable
Any of several gaits of a horse, specifically a two-beat lateral gait in which the legs on the same side move together.
The standardbred shifted smoothly into a pace as it left the gate.
Harness racers look for horses with a fast, clean pace, the gait where legs on the same side move together.
9
pitch hardnessnoununcountable
In cricket, a measure of a pitch's hardness and of how well a ball retains its speed after bouncing.
Groundskeepers prepared a wicket with extra pace for the fast bowlers.
The pitch lost its pace as the match wore on, helping the spinners.
Note
Cricket gives the ground a pace of its own. A hard pitch sends the ball on quickly after it bounces, while a softer one takes the speed out of it. The word also belongs to the bowler, who can "bowl a lot of pace". Context tells you whether the speed is in the delivery or in the surface. The bowler's side gives the adjective in pace bowler.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 1 fact
Pitch hardness affects the ball's speed after bouncing: a softer surface absorbs more of its speed. toolkit.thegma.org.uk
10
with respectprepositionformal
Used to express polite disagreement with a named person or view while acknowledging respect for them.
Pace Dr. Hollis, the data simply does not support that conclusion.
These methods, pace traditional scholars, remain widely used today.
UsagePut it before the person or view you politely disagree with: pace the critics. It does not mean according to.
Note
This is a different word altogether, taken from Latin pāce, "in peace", the ablative of pāx. It has nothing to do with steps. Harold Bloom writes "he (pace many critics) is no bumpkin" in Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human (1998).
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
The preposition comes from Latin pāce, the ablative of pāx, independently of pace meaning a step. en.wiktionary.org
Harold Bloom uses the quoted wording in Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human. en.wiktionary.org
Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human was first published in 1998. en.wikipedia.org
11
nounobsolete
A passage through difficult terrain; a mountain pass or a route exposed to ambush.
Note
Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene (1590) sends its heroine on "through that perlous Pace". Here the passage is a dangerous one: a way through a forest, the kind of place where an ambush waits. Its modern heir is pass, the related word that took over the job. Like the obsolete "journey" sense, it now survives only in older texts.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts
Edmund Spenser wrote The Faerie Queene. en.wikipedia.org
The work, including Book III containing this passage, was first published in 1590. en.wikisource.org
The narrator describes Britomart proceeding through 'that perlous Pace'. talus.artsci.wustl.edu
The dangerous passage is through a forest; the surrounding stanzas describe entering a forest and Britomart subsequently emerging from the wood. talus.artsci.wustl.edu
Pass is etymologically related to pace and has the corresponding passage meaning. en.wiktionary.org
12
nounobsolete
A person's journey or the route they travel.
Note
This begins a branch of meaning built on the idea of a passage. First it meant the way through, and then one's own way. The whole branch comes from the same Latin passus as the step, and all of it is now obsolete. Here the word has been displaced by journey, way and route. A modern reader meeting pace for a journey will tend to hear "speed" instead.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
The journey sense belongs to a group of passage and route meanings. en.wiktionary.org
The passage and step meanings share the Latin origin passus. en.wiktionary.org
13
nounobsolete
An aisle in a church; a passage between rows of seating.
Note
Inside a church the idea of a passage narrows to an aisle, the walkway between the seating. Aisle has long since taken over this meaning. The sense therefore belongs to old descriptions of buildings, not to present-day writing. It shares its root idea of a way through with the obsolete "journey" sense.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
Pace had a church-aisle sense grouped under its passage meaning. en.wiktionary.org
An aisle can be a walkway between seating. en.wikipedia.org
The aisle and journey senses share the passage or route idea. en.wiktionary.org
14
nounrare
A group of donkeys considered together as a unit.
A pace of donkeys fans out in different directions.
2006, “Drop the dead donkeys”, in The Economist
15
noundialectal
Easter; the springtime Christian festival celebrating the resurrection of Christ.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of pace apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 1–9, 11–13

From Middle English "pase," borrowed through Anglo-Norman and Old French "pas," all from Latin "passus." It is a doublet of "pas" and "fathom," and related to "pass."

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

Pace derives from Middle English pase, through Anglo-Norman and Old French pas, ultimately from Latin passus. en.wiktionary.org
Pace is a doublet of pas and fathom and is related to pass. en.wiktionary.org

Meaning 10

This is pāce, the ablative case of the Latin noun pāx ("peace"), and it means "in peace."