Etymology

underpass

U1N1D2E1R1P3A1S1S1

Today it means: A passage, especially for pedestrians, that crosses underneath a road, railroad or obstacle. Full definition →

English pass ← Middle English passen ← Old French passer
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₁én
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₁entér
  3. Proto-Indo-European*h₂én
  4. Proto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁-?
  5. Proto-Indo-European*(H)n̥dʰí
  6. Proto-Indo-European*(H)n̥dʰér
  7. Proto-Germanic*under
  8. Proto-West Germanic*undar
  9. Old Englishunder-
  10. Middle Englishunder-
  11. Englishunder-
  12. Proto-Indo-European*peth₂-
  13. Proto-Italic*pattus
  14. Latinpassus
  15. Vulgar Latin*passāre
  16. Old Frenchpasser
  17. Middle Englishpassen
  18. Englishpass
  19. English todayunderpass

From under- + pass.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.