passing

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European*peth₂-
2. Proto-Italic*pattus
3. Latinpassus
4. Vulgar Latin*passāre
5. Old Frenchpasser
6. Middle Englishpassen
7. Englishpass
8. English todaypassing

From pass + -ing.

First known use, by meaning

• from 14th c. That passes away; ephemeral.
• from 14th c. Pre-eminent, excellent, extreme.
• from 18th c. Vague, cursory.
• from 14th c. Surpassingly, greatly.
• from 14th c. Death, dying; the end of something.
• from 14th c. The fact of going past; a movement from one place to another or a change from one state to another.
• from 15th c. The act of approving a bill etc.
• from 19th c. The act of passing a ball etc. to another player.