password

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a secret word or phrase known only to a restricted group

   I forgot the password.

2. 2
   noun

   A word relayed to a person to gain admittance to a place or to gain access to information.

   Only if a would-be visitor knew the password du jour could he pass; the guards allowed no exceptions.

3. 3
   noun

   A string of characters used to log in to a computer or network, to access a level in a video game, and so on; archetypally a word but nowadays often an alphanumeric string or a phrase.

   A strong password has a mixture of lowercase and uppercase letters, numbers, and punctuation marks.

4. 4
   verb

   To protect with a password.

Etymology

From pass + word. The sentry-passing sense predates the cryptographic sense and was its inspiration.