# passport

Pronunciation: US say "PAS-port" /ˈpæspɔɹt/; UK say "PAHS-port" /ˈpɑːspɔːt/

## Noun

1. An official document that proves a person's identity and nationality, normally required for travel between countries.
   - Simple: An official paper that proves who you are and which country you are from, used for travel between countries.
   - _Customs officials examined her passport before stamping it._
   - _Renewing your passport can take several weeks during busy seasons._
2. Something that gives a person the means to do or achieve something.
   - Simple: A thing that helps someone get or do what they want.
   - _For many graduates, a degree is a passport to higher earnings._
   - _Years of hard work became his passport out of poverty._
3. Any document that permits entry to or passage through a place. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Any paper or ticket that lets you go into or through a place.
   - _The signed permit acted as their passport across the restricted zone._
   - _A member's badge is the only passport into the private lounge._
4. An identification document that firefighters surrender when entering a hazardous area and reclaim on leaving, used to track who remains inside.
   - Simple: A name tag that firefighters hand over before entering a dangerous place, so others know who is still inside.
   - _The crew chief collected every passport at the entry point before the team went in._
   - _When the firefighters came out, they retrieved their passports from the board._

## Verb

5. To grant automatic eligibility for one benefit on the basis of a person's eligibility for another.
   - Simple: To give someone the right to one benefit automatically because they already qualify for another.
   - _Receiving the main allowance will passport claimants onto a range of linked benefits._
   - _Officials decided to passport eligible households into the heating subsidy automatically._
6. To control how money allocated to a local government is required to be spent.
   - Simple: To set rules for how money given to a local government must be spent.
   - _The ministry decided to passport the grant strictly for housing repairs._
   - _Central budgets can passport money so local governments spend it only on agreed services._
7. To grant the legal authorization that allows or legitimizes economic activity across national borders.
   - Simple: To give a company the legal right to do business across country borders.
   - _European rules once allowed a license in one state to passport a firm into all the others._
   - _The agreement will passport insurers into neighboring markets without new approvals._

## Origin

From French passeport, formed from passer ("pass") plus port ("port"), equivalent to "pass" + "port".

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