Kilo Lingo

Line drawing of pasvorto
Coloured illustration of pasvorto
#2507 of 5,000 Core 5000

Translation

password

Word origin

An Esperanto compound calqued on English password and German Passwort: pasi, to pass, from French passer and behind it Latin passus, plus vorto, a word, from German Wort. The military sentry got there long before the computer did.

Origin
Esperanto compound
Root
pasi + vorto
English cognates
password, passage

Examples

.

I have forgotten my password.

, .

Choose a password that nobody can guess.

.

The website asked for a new password.

This one comes apart cleanly, and it is a pleasure when they do.Pasi is to pass and vorto is a word, so a is the word that lets you pass. Main root last, - qualifying it, and the joining is bare because sv needs no help. English password and German Passwort are the same build, and the sense is older than computing: it is the word you gave the sentry at the gate.

Note the shortened root. The compound is -, not - or -: a verb entering a compound leaves its -i behind and contributes the bare root. That is the same rule as in , a writing desk, and lavmaŝino, a washing machine, and it is why compounds come out so much shorter than the words they are made of.

The vocabulary that clusters round it. Uzantonomo is a username, ensaluti is to log in and elsaluti to log out, is the account, and ŝlosilvorto is a keyword rather than a password, so do not swap them. Pasvortfrazo is a passphrase. If you are typing any of this on a keyboard that will not make Esperanto's hatted letters, that is a separate problem with a separate answer, and the article on typing Esperanto is where it is worked through: the x-system this site's URLs use is exactly why the page for lives at //words/visxi.

A small warning about a false friend. on its own is a passing or a step, and a passport is a , which is a different compound built on the same root. Neither is a .

Where this fits

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Esperanto · Free printables

pasvorto: worksheet, infographic and listicle

Free printable study downloads for the Esperanto word "pasvorto" (password): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.

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This word is part of lesson 51.