passant

See also Passant

English

Alternative forms

• passaunt (obsolete)

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman passant, Middle French passant.

Adjective

passant (not comparable)

1. (heraldry, of a four-legged animal) Walking, usually to the right, and looking straight ahead with the right forepaw raised from the ground. [from 15th c.]
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.i:

     He them espying, gan himselfe prepare, / And on his arme addresse his goodly shield / That bore a Lion passant in a golden field.

2. (obsolete) Currently in use; in vogue. [17th-19th c.]
   • 1646, Sir Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, III.7:

     Many opinions are passant concerning the basilisk, or little king of serpents, commonly called the cockatrice [...].

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Catalan

Verb

passant

1. Present participle of passar.

Preposition

passant

1. beyond, past
2. around (e.g. a corner)

   La botiga és només passant la cantonada.

   The shop is just around the corner.

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Dutch

Noun

passant m (^??? please provide the plural!, ^??? please provide the diminutive!)

1. passer-by

   De passanten negeerden de doedelzakspeler voornamelijk, maar sommigen gooiden wat in zijn pet.

   The passers-by mostly ignored the piper, but some threw something in his cap.

Synonyms

• voorbijganger

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French

Etymology

First attested in Old French.

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

• IPA: /pa.sɑ̃/

Noun

passant m (plural passants)

1. passer-by
   • 1837, Louis Viardot, L’Ingénieux Hidalgo Don Quichotte de la Manche, volume 1, translation of El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Chapter XXXV:

     « Arrête, larron ! s’écriait-il ; arrête, félon, bandit, détrousseur de passants ; je te tiens ici, et ton cimeterre ne te sera bon à rien. »

     "Stop, thief!" cried he; "Stop, traitor, bandit, robber of passers-by; I hold thee here, and thy scimitar will be of no use to thee."

2. loop (in belt etc.)

Adjective

passant m (feminine passante, masculine plural passants, feminine plural passantes)

1. busy (as in a busy street)
2. (heraldry) passant

Verb

passant

1. Present participle of passer.

Descendants

• English: en passant

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Old French

Verb

passant

1. Present participle of passer.

Descendants

• English: passant