Passage: A Corridor, a Voyage, and a Piece of Text
A passage is a way through, a journey, or an extract from a book. All three are about getting from one point to another.
A passage is a way through: a corridor, a channel, a route. It is also a journey by sea, an extract from a text, and the progress of a law through parliament. Each keeps the idea of moving from one point to another — a passage in a book is a stretch you pass through.
- A corridor or channel. *A narrow passage.*
- A journey by sea or air. *A rough passage.*
- An extract from a text. *A passage from the novel.*
- The approval of a law. *The passage of the bill.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | passage | A dark passage. |
| Plural | passages | Underground passages. |
| Verb | pass | Pass through. |
| Noun | passenger | A single passenger. |
| Related | passageway | A service passageway. |
How it is used in a sentence
- The passage leads to the courtyard.Architecture.
- They booked passage to New York.An older phrase for buying a sea journey.
- Read the passage on page forty.Text.
Passage in phrases
- Rite of passage — a ceremony marking a change of status
- Passage of time — its steady movement
- Right of passage — a legal right to cross land or water
- Bird of passage — a migrant, or a person always moving on
- Passage grave — a prehistoric tomb entered by a corridor
From Old French *passage*, from *passer*, to pass, from Latin *passus*, a step — the same root as *pace* and *pass*.
Rite or right of passage?
A rite of passage is a ceremony marking a life change. A right of passage is a legal entitlement to travel through. They are different words.
Passage or corridor?
They overlap. Passage suggests something narrower and often older; corridor is the standard word in modern buildings.