Etymological Root & Morpheme Decomposer

passport /ˈpæs.pɔːrt/

pass- -port

Morphological Origin

Old French passer porte (authorization to pass through a city gate or port) → Latin porta (gate).

Proto-Indo-European Root

*per- (verb): "To lead across, pass through, traverse."

Indo-European Cognate Tree

Germanic

ford, firth, fare

Latin

porta, portus, portare

Greek

poros, poreia

Sanskrit

par- (further)

Semantic Evolution Timeline

PIE Era (~3000 BCE)

*per- means physical motion through space or across an obstacle.

Classical Latin (~100 BCE)

porta (physical city wall gate) & portare (carry across a boundary).

Medieval French (~1500 CE)

passer porte becomes a document granted to travelers passing physical harbor gates.

Modern / Digital (20th–21st C.)

Physical gates shift into computing network ports, virtual portals, and border checkpoints.

Canonical Proof State

passport | Morphemes: 2 | Edges: 4 | PIE: *per-