passion

US /ˈpæʃən/ See IPA manual

Freq #2529

Meanings

1

noun
A very strong feeling, such as love, excitement, or anger.

She spoke about the project with great passion.
2

noun
A strong interest or enthusiasm for something you love doing.

Music has always been his greatest passion.
3

noun
Strong romantic or sexual feelings.

The novel is a story of love and passion.

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms passionlesspassions

Derived forms counterpassiondispassionempassionimpassionatemispassionoutpassionpashpassion-flowerpassion-riddenpassionalpassionatepassionflower

Related forms impassion impassive passionate passive passivity patience patient

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

passion fruit
a tropical fruit with an egg-shaped rind and juicy seeded pulp

Noun + noun

Proverbs (1)

See all

If passion drives, let reason hold the reins

Simplified etymology

Passion came through Old French from Latin pati, “to suffer.” The Passion refers to the suffering of Jesus Christ. The sexual sense of passion dates from the late 16th century.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *peh₁- Proto-Italic *patosder.? Proto-Indo-European *pet-der.? Latin patior Proto-Indo-European *-tisder. Proto-Italic *-tjō Latin -tiō Latin passiōbor. Old English passion ▲ Latin passiōbor. Old French passionbor. Middle English passioun English passion From Middle English passioun, passion, from Old French passion (and in part from Old English passion), from Latin passio (“suffering”), noun of action from perfect passive participle passus (“suffered”), from deponent verb patior (“to suffer”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₁- (“to hurt”), see also Old English…

*peh₁- Proto-Indo-European passioun Middle English passion Old English passio Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Emotions & Feelings

External links

# passion

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈpæʃən/
**Frequency rank:** 2529

## Meanings
1. A very strong feeling, such as love, excitement, or anger.
2. A strong interest or enthusiasm for something you love doing.
3. Strong romantic or sexual feelings.

## Examples
- She spoke about the project with great passion.
- Music has always been his greatest passion.
- The novel is a story of love and passion.

## Derived Forms
- counterpassion
- dispassion
- empassion
- impassionate
- mispassion
- outpassion
- pash
- passion-flower
- passion-ridden
- passional
- passionate
- passionflower

## Related Forms
- impassion
- impassive
- passionate
- passive
- passivity
- patience
- patient

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *peh₁-
- Root: passioun
- Root: passion
- Root: passio

## Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *peh₁- Proto-Italic *patosder.? Proto-Indo-European *pet-der.? Latin patior Proto-Indo-European *-tisder. Proto-Italic *-tjō Latin -tiō Latin passiōbor. Old English passion ▲ Latin passiōbor. Old French passionbor. Middle English passioun English passion From Middle English passioun, passion, from Old French passion (and in part from Old English passion), from Latin passio (“suffering”), noun of action from perfect passive participle passus (“suffered”), from deponent verb patior (“to suffer”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₁- (“to hurt”), see also Old English…

## AI Etymology
The historical chain includes Proto-Indo-European *peh₁-, Middle English passioun, Old French passion, Old English passion, and Latin passio. Modern senses include a very strong feeling, such as love, excitement, or anger and a strong interest or enthusiasm for something you love doing. The wider word family includes derivatives such as counterpassion, dispassion, empassion, impassionate, mispassion, and outpassion and related forms such as impassion, impassive, passionate, and passive.

## Topics
- Emotions & Feelings

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