safe-conduct
safe-conduct noun: a document that grants safe passage through enemy territory in times of war.
Noun
safe-conduct (plural safe-conducts)
Verb
safe-conduct (third-person singular simple present safe-conducts, present participle safe-conducting, simple past and past participle safe-conducted)
- To guarantee safe passage by granting such a document.
- Who […] Haue paſt the armie of the mightie Turke:
Bearing his priuie ſignet and his hand,
To ſafe conduct vs thorow Affrica: […]c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC...
- Who […] Haue paſt the armie of the mightie Turke:
Synonyms of safe-conduct
Forms of safe-conduct
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | safe-conducts |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | safe-conducts |
| present participle | safe-conducting |
| past participle | safe-conducted |
| past | safe-conducted |
Origin of safe-conduct
Attested as early as the 14th century in Robert of Gloucerster's chronicles written in Middle English; ultimately a calque of Old French sauf-conduit.
Questions about safe-conduct
- What does safe-conduct mean?
- Safe-conduct means a document that grants safe passage through enemy territory in times of war.
- What part of speech is safe-conduct?
- Safe-conduct can be a noun or a verb.
- What is the plural of safe-conduct?
- The plural of safe-conduct is safe-conducts.
Words near safe-conduct in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: safe-conduct (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)-Neøn-safe-conduct.wav.
Cite this entry: “safe-conduct.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/safe-conduct. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.