n. [ F. passeport, orig., a permission to leave a port or to sail into it; passer to pass + port a port, harbor. See Pass, and Port a harbor. ] 1. Permission to pass; a document given by the competent officer of a state, permitting the person therein named to pass or travel from place to place, without molestation, by land or by water. [ 1913 Webster ]
Caution in granting passports to Ireland. Clarendon. [ 1913 Webster ]
2. A document carried by neutral merchant vessels in time of war, to certify their nationality and protect them from belligerents; a sea letter. [ 1913 Webster ]
3. A license granted in time of war for the removal of persons and effects from a hostile country; a safe-conduct. Burrill. [ 1913 Webster ]
4. Figuratively: Anything which secures advancement and general acceptance. Sir P. Sidney. [ 1913 Webster ]
His passport is his innocence and grace. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]