password

Etymology

A compound of 'pass' (to go through, from Old French 'passer,' from Vulgar Latin *passāre, from Latin 'passus,' a step) + 'word' (from Old English 'word,' from Proto-Germanic *wurdą, from PIE *werdʰo-, to speak). The concept is military in origin: sentries required approaching persons to speak a prearranged word to 'pass' through the line. The synonym 'watchword' (a word given to those on watch) is slightly older. Military passwords date to at least the Roman legions, who used a 'tessera' — a small wooden tablet inscribed with the night's password, passed from tent to tent. The computing sense dates to the 1960s, when MIT's Compatible Time-Sharing System (CTSS) implemented one of the first computer password systems in 1961. Key roots: pass + word (English: "a word that lets you pass").

Password traces back to English pass + word, meaning "a word that lets you pass". Across languages it shares form or sense with French mot de passe, Spanish contraseña, German Passwort and Italian parola d'ordine, evidence of a shared etymological family.