Pass"port (&?;), n. [F. passeport, orig., a permission to leave a port or to sail into it; passer to pass + port a port, harbor. See Pass, and Port a harbor.] 1. Permission to pass; a document given by the competent officer of a state, permitting the person therein named to pass or travel from place to place, without molestation, by land or by water.

Caution in granting passports to Ireland.

2. A document carried by neutral merchant vessels in time of war, to certify their nationality and protect them from belligerents; a sea letter.

3. A license granted in time of war for the removal of persons and effects from a hostile country; a safe- conduct. Burrill.

4. Figuratively: Anything which secures advancement and general acceptance. Sir P. Sidney.

His passport is his innocence and grace.

• An official document which proves the identity and nationality of the person for whom it was issued.