passing

English

WOTD – 25 July 2011    

Etymology

From pass +‎ -ing.

Pronunciation

Verb

passing

  1. Present participle of pass.

Adjective

passing (comparative more passing, superlative most passing)

  1. That passes away; ephemeral. [from 14th c.]
    • 1814, Lord Byron, Lara, I.15:
      And solace sought he none from priest nor leech, / And soon the same in movement and in speech / As heretofore he fill'd the passing hours [...].
    • 2010, Marianne Kirby, The Guardian, 21 Sep 2010:
      It might be possible to dismiss #dittowatch as just another passing internet fancy. After all, hashtags are ephemeral.
  2. (now rare, literary) Pre-eminent, excellent, extreme. [from 14th c.]
    • 1835, Washington Irving, The Crayon Miscellany:
      It was by dint of passing strength, / That he moved the massy stone at length.
    • 1847, Robert Holmes, The Case of Ireland Stated:
      That parliament was destined, in one short hour of convulsive strength, in one short hour of passing glory, to humble the pride and alarm the fears of England.
  3. vague, cursory. [from 18th c.]
    • 2011, Stewart J Lawrence, The Guardian, 14 Jun 2011:
      Ardent pro-lifer Rick Santorum made one passing reference to "authenticity" as a litmus test for a conservative candidate, but if he was obliquely referring to Romney (and he was), you could be excused for missing the dig.

Translations

that passes away; ephemeral
pre-eminent, excellent
done only in passing; vague, cursory

Adverb

passing (not comparable)

  1. (now literary or archaic) Surpassingly, greatly. [from 14th c.]
    • 1813, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Queen Mab, I:
      One, pale as yonder waning moon, / With lips of lurid blue; / The other, rosy as the morn / When throned on ocean's wave, / It blushes o'er the world: / Yet both so passing wonderful!
    • 2010, Simon Hattenstone, The Guardian, 30 Oct 2010:
      ‘I find it passing strange that convicts understand honest folk, but honest folk don't understand convicts.’

Translations

(now literary or archaic) Surpassingly, greatly

Usage notes

  • This use is sometimes misconstrued as meaning "vaguely" or "slightly" (perhaps by confusion with such phrases as "passing fancy", under Adjective, above), leading to formations such as "more than passing clever" etc.

Noun

passing (countable and uncountable; plural passings)

  1. Death, dying; the end of something. [from 14th c.]
  2. The fact of going past; a movement from one place to another or a change from one state to another. [from 14th c.]
  3. (law) The act of approving a bill etc. [from 15th c.]
  4. (sports) The act of passing a ball etc. to another player. [from 19th c.]
  5. A form of juggling where several people pass props between each other, usually clubs or rings.

Translations

death, dying; the end
fact of going past; movement from one place or state to another
law: act of approving a bill etc.
sports: act of passing
form of juggling
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French

French Wikipedia has an article on:

Wikipedia fr

Etymology

Borrowed from English

Noun

passing m (usually uncountable)

  1. (juggling) passing
    • Le passing, ou comment jongler à plusieurs. (www.multiloisirs.com)
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Last modified on 21 May 2013, at 16:49