# pace

Pronunciation: say "PAYS" /peɪs/

## Noun

1. The speed or rate at which someone or something moves or makes progress.
   - Simple: How fast a person or thing moves or works.
   - _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._
3. A single step taken in walking or running, or the distance covered by one step, used loosely as a measure of distance.
   - Simple: One step, or the distance of one step, often used to measure distance roughly.
   - _The instructions said to walk twenty paces before turning left._
   - _She stepped back a pace so the photo would fit everyone in._
4. A manner or style of walking, running, or dancing; the rate and way a person moves on their feet.
   - Simple: The way someone moves their feet when walking, running, or dancing.
   - _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._
8. Any of several gaits of a horse, specifically a two-beat lateral gait in which the legs on the same side move together.
   - Simple: A way a horse moves, especially when both legs on the same side step 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. In cricket, a measure of a pitch's hardness and of how well a ball retains its speed after bouncing.
   - Simple: In cricket, how hard the ground is and how well the ball keeps its speed after it bounces.
   - _Groundskeepers prepared a wicket with extra pace for the fast bowlers._
   - _The pitch lost its pace as the match wore on, helping the spinners._

## Verb

2. To walk back and forth within a small area.
   - Simple: To walk back and forth across a small space.
   - _The expectant father paced the hospital corridor for hours._
   - _Whenever he is deep in thought, he tends to pace the length of his office._
5. To set the speed in a race, especially for other competitors to follow.
   - Simple: To set the speed for runners in a race.
   - _A veteran marathoner paced the lead group for the opening half._
   - _Coaches asked him to pace the younger athletes during the trial._
7. To measure a distance by walking it and counting the steps taken.
   - Simple: To measure a distance by counting your steps.
   - _The surveyor paced the boundary before setting up his equipment._
   - _Engineers sometimes pace a site quickly to get a rough measurement._

## Adjective

6. In cricket, describing a bowler who delivers the ball at high speed.
   - Simple: In cricket, describing a bowler who bowls the ball very fast.
   - _The selectors favored a tall pace bowler suited to the bouncy pitch._
   - _England's pace attack overwhelmed the batsmen on the opening day._

## Preposition

Pronunciation: US say "PAY-see" /ˈpeɪsi/; UK say "PAH-chay" /ˈpɑːtʃeɪ/

10. Used to express polite disagreement with a named person or view while acknowledging respect for them.
   - Simple: Used to show polite disagreement with someone, while still respecting them.
   - _Pace Dr. Hollis, the data simply does not support that conclusion._
   - _These methods, pace traditional scholars, remain widely used today._

## Noun

11. A passage through difficult terrain; a mountain pass or a route exposed to ambush. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A narrow path through hard country, like a mountain pass where an attack might happen.
12. A person's journey or the route they travel. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Someone's journey or the route they travel.
13. An aisle in a church; a passage between rows of seating. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: An aisle in a church, the walkway between the seats.

## Other meanings

- (noun) A group of donkeys considered together as a unit.
- (noun) Easter; the springtime Christian festival celebrating the resurrection of Christ.

## Origin

**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."
**Meaning 10** — This is pāce, the ablative case of the Latin noun pāx ("peace"), and it means "in peace."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/pace (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).