Word of the Day

: January 30, 2014

passim

adverb PASS-im

What It Means

: here and there

passim in Context

Readers will have no trouble determining the editor's opinions about the text, as her strongly worded footnotes appear passim.

"Finally, may I say that I respect the views of those who have read and researched the same information as I, but reached the opposing conclusion, as displayed in your letter pages passim." - From a letter to the editor by Stephen Brown in the North Devon Journal, December 12, 2013

Did You Know?

"Passim" is from the Latin word "passus" ("scattered"), itself from "pandere," meaning "to spread." "Pandere" is the root of the common word "expand" and the not-so-common word "repand," meaning "having a slightly undulating margin" (as in "a repand leaf" or "a repand colony of bacteria"). It is also the progenitor of "pace," as in "keep up a steady pace." "Passim" itself appears in English both on its own and as part of the adverb "sic passim," which means "so throughout." "Sic passim" is typically used to indicate that a word or idea is to be found at various places throughout a book or a writer's work.