en passant
Syllables: en pas·sant/ˌɒ̃ pæˈsɒ̃//ˌɑn pəˈsɑnt/
en passant adjective: of a capture, performed by a pawn on an enemy pawn that has just passed over its attack zone.
Adjective
en passant (not comparable)
Adverb
en passant (not comparable)
- In passing, by the way, incidentally.
- Turtle doves have long been celebrated for their fidelity; and this turtle dove, though he flirts, en paſſant, with a ſky-lark, a jay, and a quail, does not materially diſcredit the famed conſtancy of his ſpecies, theſe birds being all coquettes: but when he meets (as he fortunately does) with an...1791 January, “[Miscellaneous.] Art. 65. The Turtle Dove. A Tale, from the French of M. de Florian. 8vo. pp. 25. 1s. Printed at Caen in Normandy; and Sold in London by Payne [book review]”, in The...
- Mr. William Poole called in, and examined […] I spoke to sheriff Thorpe, en passant, one day in Sackville-street, saying, "I should wish to be on the next commission jury;" and he said, it should be so.1823 May 6, “Sheriff of Dublin—Inquiry into His Conduct”, in T[homas] C[urson] Hansard, editor, The Parliamentary Debates: Forming a Continuation of the Work Entitled “The Parliamentary History of...
- Of a capture of an enemy pawn, by moving one's pawn to the square that the enemy pawn has just passed over.
- [I]f the opponent chooses to make this capture, he must do it immediately on his next move – if he makes any other move on his next move, he forever loses the chance to capture that pawn en passant, though he still retains the right to capture another pawn en passant should a similar situation...2007, Mark A. Borders, “The Rules”, in The Self-Improvement of Chess: Why the Game's Basics Apply to Daily Living, [Raleigh, N.C.]: Lulu, →ISBN, page 12
Noun
en passant (plural en passants)
- A move in which a pawn captures an opposing pawn on the same rank immediately after the latter has moved forward two squares on its first move in the game, as if it had moved forward only one square.
- Spectators are privy to awe inspiring castles, baffling forks, and breathtaking en passants.1998 December 11, Glenn Kaplan, “Chess: not just for losers, but also Trekkies”, in The Oberlin Review, volume 127, number 12, Oberlin, Oh.: The Union Library Association, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from...
- En passant is the rarest of moves. It is a French phrase that means "in passing." This occurs when one player moves a pawn two spaces forward, on its first move, to try to avoid a capture by an opponent pawn. When this happens, the opponent may move his pawn diagonally to the square that the first...2007, Mark A. Borders, “The Rules”, in The Self-Improvement of Chess: Why the Game's Basics Apply to Daily Living, [Raleigh, N.C.]: Lulu, →ISBN, page 12
en passant meaning in Tamil, Marathi, Malayalam and Kannada
en passant in Tamil
- chess move
- போகும்போது பிடித்தல் pōkumpōtu piṭittal
en passant in Marathi
- chess move
- एन पासंट en pāsaṇṭa
en passant in Malayalam
- incidentally, in passing, by the way
- സംഗതിവശാൽ, ആനുഷംഗികമായി, സന്ദർഭാനുസാരം, പ്രസംഗേന, പ്രസംഗതഃ, ഒരു കാര്യം പറയുന്നതിനിടയ്ക്ക്
en passant in Kannada
- ಪ್ರಾಸಂಗಿಕವಾಗಿ
More languagesFewer languages
- en passant in Arabic
- أَخْذٌ بِالتَّجَاوُز ʔaḵḏun bi-t-tajāwuz, الأخذ بالتجاوز
- en passant in Persian
- آنپاسان
- en passant in Vietnamese
- bắt tốt qua đường
Examples of en passant in a sentence
- I should observe, en passant, that cardinals only have the right to kiss the Pope's hand.1825, [Victor-Joseph Étienne] de Jouy, “The Conclave”, in The Hermit in Italy, or Observations on the Manners and Customs of Italy; being a...
- We merely suggest, en passant, that some of our best citizens might deem it a wonderful and beauteous thing if, in addition to paying the fine, Mr.1905 October, Booth Tarkington, “‘Outer Darkness’”, in The Conquest of Canaan: A Novel, New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers...
- Before he returns to performing some castles and en passants, [Kendall] Williams has to determine his endgame in the tourney.2012 March 17, Ben Watanabe, “New Mexico Point Guard Kendall Williams Puts Chess Match on Hold During Tournament”, in New England Sports...
- Grande Prairie's Sandman Hotel will be the scene of some castling, en passants and checkmate action this weekend when the 29th Trumpeter Classic Chess Tournament gets underway.2012 May 31, Greg Amos, “Trumpeter Classic chess tournament begins today”, in Grande Prairie Daily Herald-Tribune, Grande Prairie, Alta....
Forms of en passant
| plural | en passants |
|---|
Origin of en passant
An unadapted borrowing from French en passant.
Questions about en passant
- What does en passant mean?
- En passant means of a capture, performed by a pawn on an enemy pawn that has just passed over its attack zone.
- What is en passant in Tamil?
- En passant in Tamil is போகும்போது பிடித்தல் (pōkumpōtu piṭittal). See En passant meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use en passant in a sentence?
- I should observe, en passant, that cardinals only have the right to kiss the Pope's hand.
- What part of speech is en passant?
- En passant can be an adjective, an adverb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce en passant?
- En passant is pronounced /ˌɒ̃ pæˈsɒ̃/ (UK).
Words near en passant in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: en passant (page history and authors); en passant (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); en passant (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-en passant.wav, en-us-en passant.mp3.
Cite this entry: “en passant.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/en_passant. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.