Passport

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Caution in granting passports to Ireland.
                                                    --Clarendon.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. A document carried by neutral merchant vessels in time of
        war, to certify their nationality and protect them from
        belligerents; a sea letter.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. A license granted in time of war for the removal of
        persons and effects from a hostile country; a
        safe-conduct. --Burrill.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. Figuratively: Anything which secures advancement and
        general acceptance. --Sir P. Sidney.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              His passport is his innocence and grace. --Dryden.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  passport
       n 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}]

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  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. 
  
  

From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:

  PASSPORT, n.  A document treacherously inflicted upon a citizen going
  abroad, exposing him as an alien and pointing him out for special
  reprobation and outrage.