English 'passport' comes from Middle French 'passeport,' literally 'pass through a gate,' from 'passer' (to pass) + 'port' (gate, harbor) — originally a royal letter of safe conduct allowing travelers to cross borders and pass through walled cities, not an identity document in the modern sense.
An official government document certifying the holder's identity and citizenship and permitting travel to foreign countries.
From Middle French 'passeport,' literally 'pass through a port (or gate),' from 'passer' (to pass, to go through) + 'port' (port, gate, entrance). The earliest passports were not identity documents but letters of safe conduct — royal or governmental authorizations permitting the bearer to pass through gates, ports, and borders without hindrance. The word reflects medieval travel realities: cities were walled, borders were guarded
One of the oldest known passport-like documents appears in the Hebrew Bible: in the Book of Nehemiah (c. 450 BCE), Nehemiah asks King Artaxerxes of Persia for letters granting him safe passage to Judah. The modern standardized passport — a small booklet with a photograph — was not established until after World War