▪ I. passion, n.
(ˈpæʃən)
Also 2–6 -iun, -ioun, -yo(u)n, etc., 4 pascioun.
[a. OF. passiun, passion, ad. L. passiōn-em suffering (Tertullian, etc.), n. of action f. patī, pass- to suffer. In L. chiefly a word of Christian theology, which was also its earliest use in Fr. and Eng., being very frequent in the earliest ME.]
I. The suffering of pain.
1. a. (Now usually with capital.) The sufferings of Jesus Christ on the Cross (also often including the Agony in Gethsemane). Formerly also in pl.
Cross of Passion, in Heraldry: see quots. Instruments of the Passion, the cross, the crown of thorns, the nails, scourge, etc.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 119 Vre drihtnes halie passiun, þet is his halie þrowunge þe he for mancunne underfeng. a 1225 St. Marher. 1 Efter ure louerdes pine, ant his passiun. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 15/472 Riȝt þane wei þat ore louerd ȝeode toward is passioun. 1340 Ayenb. 12 Þe uerthe article belongeþ to his passion. 1382 Wyclif Acts i. 3 To which and he ȝaf [1388 schewide] hym silf alyue after his passioun. [So all 16–17th c. versions.] 1526 Tindale 1 Pet. i. 11 The passions that shulde come vnto Christ. 1547 Boorde Introd. Knowl. xxxix. (1870) 220 The mount of Caluery, where Iesu Chryst did suffer his passions. 1548–9 (Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Litany, By thy crosse and passion,..Good lorde deliuer us. 1666 Pepys Diary 3 Nov., This morning comes Mr. Lovett, and brings me my print of the Passion, varnished by him. 1682 J. Gibbon Introd. ad Lat. Blason. 76 A long Cross: Bara makes it like a Cross of Passion, that is, the Traverse beam a pretty deal below the top of the palar part. 1725 Coats Dict. Her. s.v., Cross of the Passion..not crossed in the Middle but somewhat below the Top, with Arms short in proportion to the Length of the Shaft. 1754 Sherlock Disc. (1759) I. vii. 211 As if the Remission of our Sins was to be ascribed peculiarly to the Passion. 1839 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 7) XIX. 428/1 Pictured representations of the fourteen stages of our Lord's passion. 1845 G. A. Poole Churches vi. 48 The font of North Somercoats, Lincolnshire, has on two of its sides shields charged with the instruments of the passion. |
† b. Used allusively in asseverations; also
transf. applied by persons to themselves, as in
passion of me,
my heart,
my soul.
Obs.| c 1386 Chaucer Shipman's Prol. 13 A-bide for godis digne passion. c 1530 Hickscorner in Hazl. Dodsley I. 168 Help, help, for the passion of my soul. 1570 Preston Cambyses I. 180 O' the passion of God, I have done. 1601 B. Jonson Ev. Man in Hum. (Q.) iii. iii. 127 Gods passion, and I had twise so many cares, as you haue, I'ld drowne them all in a cup of sacke. 1601 Shakes. All's Well v. ii. 43 Cox my passion, giue me your hand. 1684 Meriton Yorksh. Dial. 477 Pashions a Life! here'st Land-lord just at deaur. 1738 tr. Guazzo's Art Conversation 24 Passion o' me! Who will then carry my Corn to Mill? |
c. The narrative of the sufferings of Christ from the Gospels; also, a musical or dramatic setting of this;
cf. passion-play.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 8844 Þus sais sum opinion, Bot sua sais noght þe passion. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon cxlix. 566 After that your deuyne seruyce be done, and the passyon of our lorde Iesu Chryste red. 1823 W. Hone Anc. Mysteries Described 169 In 1298, the passion was played at Friuli. 1844 Lingard Anglo-Sax. Ch. (1858) II. ix. 64 That every deacon read two passions. 1880 in Grove Dict. Mus. II. 664/2 Until the latter half of the 16th century the Passion was always sung..by the three Deacons alone. Ibid. 666/1 Bach['s]..‘Passion according to S. Matthew’ is..the finest work of the kind. 1903 E. K. Chambers Mediæval Stage II. xxii. 129 There were performances of Passions in Reading in 1508, in Dublin in 1528, [etc.]. 1962 R. Southern Seven Ages of Theatre 107 The Passion of Mons may well have run to ninety-eight separate representations of ‘scenes’. |
† d. Passion-tide or Passion Week.
Obs.| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 10178 Þe Sonenday of þe passion. Ibid. 11330 Wiþinne þe passion Wiþ is ost he wende uorþ & arerde is dragon. |
2. a. The sufferings of a martyr, martyrdom.
arch.| a 1225 St. Marher. 1 Her beginneð þe liflade & te passiun of seinte margarete. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xv. 265 What penaunce and pouerte and passioun þei [the saints] suffred. c 1440 J. Capgrave Life St. Kath. v. 1668 The emperour commaunded..Thei shulde be led on-to her passyon. 1503 Gold. Leg. Colophon, The lyues passyons and myracles of many other sayntes. 1672 Cave Prim. Chr. i. vii. (1673) 160 The great reverence they had for Martyrs. Their passions stiled their Birthday. 1754–8 T. Newton Observ. Proph., Dan. xii. 204 Cyprian ordered the passions of the Martyrs in Africa to be registred. 1901 T. R. Glover Life & Lett. 4th Cent. 250 With the martyrs came their relics, the tales of their passions, their tombs and their images. |
| transf. 1598 B. Jonson Ev. Man in Hum. iii. iv, A fasting-day no sooner comes, but..poore cobs they smoke for it, they are made martyrs o' the gridiron, they melt in passion. |
b. A narrative account of the passion of a martyr.
| 1904 T. Shearman Veneration of S. Agnes 90 Helen of Rossow, or Roswitha, a Benedictine nun of the Convent of Gandersheim, Saxony, wrote poems in the 10th century, ‘to replace,’ as she says in her preface, ‘the pagan passions which dishonour the profane drama, by the triumphs of the Christian heroines, the chaste spouses who are admitted to the Nuptials of the Lamb.’ 1913 E. R. Barker Rome of Pilgrims xiii. 183 In an eighth-century manuscript there is a note that Passions are to be read at Office in the Church of S. Peter. Ibid. xiv. 192 It is always the conventional version of a Passion which is reproduced in numerous manuscripts. Ibid. 195 For this saint..there exists not only the contemporary Passion, but also a series of records. 1927 F. J. E. Raby Hist. Christian-Latin Poetry ii. 56 His poem was used as a basis for later prose passions of Cassian. |
† 3. Suffering or affliction generally.
Obs.| a 1225 Ancr. R. 188 In all ower passiuns, þencheð euer inwardliche up o Godes pinen. a 1340 Hampole Psalter xv. 7 In wrangis & temptaciouns & passions. 14.. in Tundale's Vis. (1843) 130 Sche was exempt from all such passyon [of travail]. 1509 Hawes Conv. Swearers xliv, The wounde of synne to me is more passyon Than the wounde of my syde for thy redempcyon. 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. v. i. 63 Giue her what comforts The quality of her passion shall require. 1656 H. Vaughan Thalia Rediv., Nativ. 15 Great type of passions! Come what will, Thy grief exceeds all copies still. |
4. a. A painful affection or disorder of the body or of some part of it.
Obs. exc. in certain phrases, as
colic passion,
hysteric(al passion,
iliac passion,
sciatic passion, for which see the
adjs.| 1382 Wyclif Lev. xv. 13 If he were helid, that suffreth siche a maner passioun [L. hujusmodi passionem]. 1398–1856 [see iliac 1]. 1460 J. Capgrave Chron. (Rolls) 40 Asa, Kyng of Juda..had sore feet, whech passioune our bokys sey it was podegra. 1529 Wolsey in Four C. Eng. Lett. 10 Beyng entereyd into the passyon of the dropsy. 1547 Boorde Brev. Health (1557) 33 In latyn it is named Ventralis passio. In English..the belly ache, or a passion in the belly. 1563 T. Gale Antidot. ii. 29 It is of ryght good effecte in the passions of the ioyntes. 1684 tr. Bonet's Merc. Compit. xvi. 566 Thirst is a Passion of the Mouth of the Stomach. 1822–34 [see hysteric 1]. |
† b. A violent access, attack, or fit of disease.
| 1390 Gower Conf. III. 7 As a drunke man I swerve, And suffre such a Passion. 1641 Hinde J. Bruen xlvii. 150 His fits and passions were much after this manner. |
II. The fact of being acted upon, the being passive. [Late L.
passio, used to render
Gr. πάθος.]
5. a. The fact or condition of being acted upon or affected by external agency; subjection to external force:
= affection n. 1;
† an effect or impression produced by action from without. Now
rare or
Obs.| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. v. met. iv. 130 (Camb. MS.) The passion, þat is to seyn þe suffraunce or the wit in the qwyke body goth byforn exitinge and moeuynge the strengthis of the thoght. 1413 Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton 1483) v. xiv. 108 Al that is done withouten might, it lacketh the dignyte and the name of dede, but it is cleped passion. 1530 Palsgr. 111 Verbes meanes..betoken neyther action nor passion. 1610 J. Guillim Heraldry iii. iii. (1660) 109 The..brightnesse of these [Sun and Moon] is..subject to the passion of darkning or eclipsing. 1668 Wilkins Real Char. iii. i. 303 That kind of word..adjoyned to a Verb, to signifie the quality and affection of the Action or Passion, is stiled an Adverb. 1725 Watts Logic i. iv. §7 The word passion signifies the receiving any action, in a large philosophical sense. 1846 Trench Mirac. xxxiii. (1862) 470 That work shall be the work of passion rather than of action. |
† b. A way in which a thing is or may be affected by external agency; a passive quality, property, or attribute;
= affection 11, 12.
Obs.| 1570 Billingsley Euclid i. xxxiv. 44 In this Theoreme, are demonstrated three passions or properties of parallelogrammes. 1610 B. Jonson Alch. ii. v, What's the proper passion of mettalls? 1657 W. Morice Coena quasi κοινή Diat. iii. 139 Frigidity is the proper passion of water, which is sometime accidentally hot. 1690 Leybourn Curs. Math. 330 Of certain Passions and Properties of the Five Regular Bodies. 1707 Floyer Physic. Pulse-Watch 209 The different Manners..produc'd by a particular hot or cold Diet, or Air, Exercise, and Passions peculiar to each Nation. |
III. An affection of the mind. [L.
passio = Gr. πάθος.]
6. a. Any kind of feeling by which the mind is powerfully affected or moved; a vehement, commanding, or overpowering emotion; in psychology and art, any mode in which the mind is affected or acted upon (whether vehemently or not), as ambition, avarice, desire, hope, fear, love, hatred, joy, grief, anger, revenge. Sometimes personified.
| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus iv. 676 (704) As she þat al þis mene while brende Of oþer passion þan þat þey wende. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 118 He wyll stere vp in his soule y⊇ passyons of ire & impacyency. 1528 Tindale Obed. Chr. Man Wks. (Parker Soc.) I. 246 A poor woman with child, which longed, and, being overcome of her passion, ate flesh on a Friday. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, v. ii. 18 Of all base passions, Feare is most accurst. 1611 Bible Acts xiv. 15 We also are men of like passions with you. 1647 Cowley Mistr., Passions i, From Hate, Fear, Hope, Anger, and Envy free, And all the Passions else that be. 1710 Norris Chr. Prud. vii. 323 By the Passions I think we are to understand certain Motions of the Mind depending upon and accompanied with an Agitation of the Spirits. 1732 Pope Ep. Bathurst 154 The ruling Passion conquers Reason still. 1791 Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest i, A man whose passions often overcame his reason. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XIV. 2/1 The common division of the passions into desire and aversion, hope and fear, joy and grief, love and hatred, has been mentioned by every author who has treated of them. Ibid. 14/2 Passions, in painting, are the external expressions of the different dispositions and affections of the mind; but particularly their different effects upon the several features of the face. 1843 Prescott Mexico vi. viii. (1864) 401 It were as easy to curb the hurricane in its fury, as the passions of an infuriated horde of savages. 1872 Ruskin Eagle's Nest §169 Their reverence for the passion, and their guardianship of the purity, of Love. |
b. Without article or
pl.: Commanding, vehement, or overpowering feeling or emotion.
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. v. 1 Such restlesse passion did all night torment The flaming corage of that Faery knight. 1604 Shakes. Oth. iv. i. 277 Is this the Nature Whom Passion could not shake? 1678 South Serm. (1697) II. x. 434 Passion is the Drunkenness of the Mind. 1724 De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 3 He told me, with a great deal of passion, that he loved me above all the rest. 1770 Wesley Lett., to J. Benson 5 Oct., Passion and prejudice govern the world. 1901 H. Black Culture & Restraint iv. 106 Philosophy is a feeble antagonist before passion. |
c. A fit or mood marked by stress of feeling or abandonment to emotion; a transport of excited feeling; an outburst of feeling.
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. i. 49 In this great passion of unwonted lust, Or wonted feare of doing ought amis, He starteth up. 1599 Chapman Hum. Day's Mirth Plays 1873 I. 92 Come, come, leave your passions, they cannot moove mee. 1628 Hobbes Thucyd. (1822) 119 They sent these men thither in passion. 1725 Pope Odyss. iv. 150 From the brave youth the streaming passion broke. 1854 Milman Lat. Chr. vii. ii. (1864) IV. 98 Henry fell on his knees and in a passion of grief entreated her merciful interference. 1856 W. Collins After Dark (1862) 214 She burst into an hysterical passion of weeping. |
d. A poem, literary composition, or passage marked by deep or strong emotion; a passionate speech or outburst.
Obs. or
arch.| 1582 T. Watson Centurie of Loue i. heading, The Authour in this Passion taketh..occasion to open his estate in loue. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. v. i. 321 Heere she comes, and her passion ends the play. 1599 Massinger, etc. Old Law i. i. Wks. (Rtldg.) 416/1 These very passions I speak to my father. [Gifford note These pathetic speeches.] 1614 T. Tomkis Albumazar ii. i. in Hazl. Dodsley XI. 327 Not a one shakes his tail, but I sigh out a passion. 1871 Browning Balaustion 193 Now it was some whole passion of a play. |
7. a. spec. An outburst of anger or bad temper.
| 1530 Palsgr. 320/1 Passyonate, inclyned sone to be in a passyon. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. iv. 11 It's eath..to..calme the tempest of his passion wood. 1688 Miege Fr. Dict. s.v. Bring, To bring a Man in a passion [transporté de colère] to himself. 1731 Gentl. Mag. I. 391/1 This put Bluster into such a Passion, that he quitted the Surgery in a Pet. 1773 Johnson in Boswell 28 Aug., Warburton kept his temper all along, while Lowth was in a passion. 1819 Metropolis II. 212 She chose, woman-like,..to fly in a passion and to abuse the sheriff's officer. 1842 Browning Pied Piper x, And folks who put me in a passion May find me pipe after another fashion. |
b. Without
a: Impassioned anger, angry feeling.
| 1524 Wolsey Let. to Knight in Strype Eccl. Mem. (1721) I. i. iv. 57 Whatsoever they might speak in passion or otherwise. 1605 Chapman All Fooles iv. i. 125, I pray you good Gostanzo, Take truce with passion. 1628 Hobbes Thucyd. (1822) 37 [To] undergo the danger with them and that without passion against you. 1729 Butler Serm. Resentm. Wks. 1874 II. 98 Passion; to which some men are liable, in the same way as others are to the epilepsy. 1798 Southey Cross Roads xviii, Passion made his dark face turn white. 1882 J. Parker Apost. Life I. 143 We can stifle the hot word of passion. |
8. a. Amorous feeling; strong sexual affection; love;
† also in
pl., amorous feelings or desires. Often
tender passion.
| 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. ii. i. 36 My sword..shall..plead my passions for Lauinia's loue. 1590 Spenser F.Q. iii. v. 30 But, when shee better him beheld, shee grew Full of soft passion and unwonted smart. 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. ii. Prol. 13 Passion lends them Power, time, meanes to meete. 1658 Phillips, Passion,..an affection of the mind,..in Poems and Romances it is more peculiarly taken for the passion of love. 1710 Steele Tatler No. 128 ¶4 Fairest Unknown..I have conceived a most extraordinary Passion for you. 1752 Fielding Amelia ii. i, I declared myself the most wretched of all martyrs to this tender passion. 1855 Milman Lat. Chr. ix. viii. (1864) V. 413 Seized with a poetic passion for Eudoxia, wife of William. |
b. transf. An object of love, a beloved person.
| 1783 Lady Suffolk in Lett. C'tess S. (1824) II. 275 Lord Buckingham's former passions go off very quickly: poor Lady Northampton is dead. 1842 Thackeray Fitz-Boodle Papers Wks. (Biogr. ed.) IV. 295 Whenever one of my passions comes into a room, my cheeks flush. |
9. Sexual desire or impulse.
| 1641 Wilkins Math. Magick i. i. (1648) 2 Which set a man at liberty from his lusts and passions. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 454 Sions daughters..Whose wanton passions in the sacred Porch Ezekiel saw. 1798 Malthus Popul. iii. iii. (1806) II. 132 Delaying the gratification of passion from a sense of duty. 1842 Longfellow Quadroon Girl x, He knew whose passions gave her life, Whose blood ran in her veins. |
10. a. An eager outreaching of the mind towards something; an overmastering zeal or enthusiasm for a special object; a vehement predilection.
| 1638 Baker tr. Balzac's Lett. (vol. II.) 70 Concerning his passion of horses, which he calls his malady..never counsell him to cure it. 1671 tr. Frejus' Voy. Mauritania 1 A passion of meriting the esteem of a considerable Company of Merchants. 1708 Swift Sentiments Ch. Eng. Man Wks. 1755 II. i. 61 That mighty passion for the church, which some men pretend [etc.]. 1780 Cowper Lett. 8 May, The passion for landscape-drawing. 1838 Miss Mitford in L'Estrange Life (1870) III. vi. 89 My present passion is for indigenous orchises. 1874 Green Short Hist. iv. §2. 169 The growing passion for the possession of land. |
b. transf. An aim or object pursued with zeal.
| 1732 Pope Ess. Man ii. 261 Whate'er the Passion, knowledge, fame, or pelf. 1856 Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. i. 69 The drama was the passion of the people. 1874 Bancroft Footpr. Time i. 81 To rule was her passion. 1883 H. Drummond Nat. Law Spir. W. i. i. (1884) 4 The pursuit of Law became the passion of science. Mod. Golf has become a passion with him. |
11. attrib. and
Comb. a. simple
attrib., as
passion-fever,
passion-fit,
passion-monger,
passion-pitch,
passion-verse,
passion-wave; objective and instrumental, as
passion-blazing,
passion-breather,
passion-kindling,
passion-thrilling, and
esp. with any
pa. pple. of suitable sense, as
passion-clouded,
passion-coloured,
passion-dimmed,
passion distracted,
passion-driven,
passion-filled,
passion-frantic,
passion-guided,
passion-kindled,
passion-led,
passion-pale,
passion-pastured,
passion-plunged,
passion-ridden,
passion-shaken,
passion-smitten,
passion-stirred,
passion-stung,
passion-swayed,
passion-torn,
passion-tossed,
passion-wasted,
passion-wearied,
passion-winged,
passion-worn; also
passion-like,
passion-proud adjs.;
passion-wise adv.| 1894 Outing (U.S.) XXIII. 362/1 Then turns his *passion-blazing eye and stamps impotently with shackled feet. |
| 1925 W. B. Yeats Vision iii. 183 Aristophanes' *passion-clouded eye. |
| 1899 ― Wind among Reeds 26 Because your crying brings to my mind *Passion-dimmed eyes and long heavy hair. |
| 1899 Crockett Kit Kennedy 406 Curious freaks of violent and *passion-driven men. |
| 1877 M. Arnold Last Ess. on Ch. & Relig. 22 The *Passion-filled reasoning and rhetoric of Pascal. |
| 1842 Faber Styrian Lake, etc. 105 When in a *passion-fit I spoke. |
| 1916 A. Huxley Burning Wheel 29 So, troubled, *passion-frantic, The poet's mind boils gold and amethyst. |
| a 1644 Quarles Sol. Recant. Sol. iv. 63 A self-conceipt may bribe Thy *passion-guided Will to take up Arms 'Gainst soveraign Reason. |
| a 1835 Mrs. Hemans Poems, Genius singing to Love, The *passion-kindled melody Might seem to gush from Sappho's fervent heart. |
| 1799 Campbell Pleas. Hope i. 121 Congenial Hope! thy *passion-kindling power, How bright, how strong, in youth's untroubled hour! |
| 1893 F. Greenwood Lover's Lex. 275 Then we shall be at peace from the *passion-mongers. |
| 1889 O. Wilde in 19th Cent. Jan. 47 The *passion-pale face of Andromeda. |
| c 1865 G. M. Hopkins Voice from World in Poems (1967) 125 How turn my *passion-pastured thought To gentle manna and simple bread? |
| 1879 Black Macleod of D. xxxvii, Your feelings supposed to be always up at *passion-pitch. |
| 1876 G. M. Hopkins Wreck of Deutschland xxxiii, in Poems (1967) 62 Our *passion-plungèd giant risen, The Christ of the Father compassionate, fetched in the storm of his strides. |
| 1592 Greene Disput. Wks. (Grosart) X. 241, I began to waxe *passion-proud. |
| 1606 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iv. ii. Magnificence 510 O why is my Minde More *passion-stirred, then my hand is strong? |
| 1605 Ibid. ii. iii. iv. Captains 1070 What Sea more apt to swell Then is th' unbridled Vulgar, *passion-toss't? |
| 1880 O. Crawfurd Portugal 369 Modern *passion-verse generally in its lyric form. |
| 1799 Coleridge Lines in Concert Room ii, Nature's *passion-warbled plaint. |
| 1881 O. Wilde Poems 4 With *passion-wearied face. |
| 1821 Shelley Adonais ix, The *passion-wingèd ministers of thought. |
| 1814 Southey Roderick xiv, One countenance So strongly mark'd, so *passion-worn. |
b. Special
Combs.:
† passion-banner, a banner inscribed with the tokens of Christ's Passion;
Passion cross, see
quot. and
Cross of Passion in 1;
† passion-day, the day on which a martyr suffered;
passion-fruit, the edible fruit of some species of Passion-flower,
esp. Passiflora edulis, the granadilla, which produces egg-shaped fruit with reddish-purple, slightly wrinkled skin and sweet yellow pulp surrounding small black seeds;
passion killers slang (see
quots.);
passion-lettuce, an early kind of spring lettuce;
passion-music, music to which the narrative of the Passion is set (
cf. 1 c); so
passion-oratorio;
passion play, a mystery-play representing the Passion of Christ; also
transf.;
passion-tide, a tide or flow of passion; see also
Passion-tide;
passion-tree, a species of Passion-flower cultivated for its fruit;
passion vine = passion-flower;
passion wagon slang (see
quot. 1948). Also
Passion Sunday,
Passion Week.
| 1552 Inventory in Ecclesiologist XVII. 125 A *passion banner of red sarsnet. |
| 1780 Edmondson Her. II. Gloss., *Passion Cross, the same as the Cross Calvary. Cross Calvary,..the Cross of the Passion. 1882 Cussans Hand-bk. Her. iv. 60 The Latin Cross is sometimes called a Passion Cross; but in the latter, all the limbs should be couped, that is the top and bottom of the Cross should not touch the extremities of the shield while still retaining the distinctive features of the Latin Cross. |
| 1672 Cave Prim. Chr. i. vii. (1673) 204 We celebrate the *passion days of the Martyrs. |
| 1752 H. Walpole Lett. (1846) II. 454 A garden of Eden, from which..my sister-in-law long ago gathered *passion-fruit. 1867 R. Henning Let. 18 Feb. (1966) 234, I have also been making some passionfruit jelly. 1881 Mrs. C. Praed Policy & P. I. 145 A high fence..overgrown with passion-fruit. 1908 E. J. Banfield Confessions of Beachcomber i. vi. 192 There may be some who do not know that the humble papaw..belongs to the passion-fruit family. 1934 T. Wood Cobbers xvii. 217 Passion fruit, squeezed into a wineglass, mixed with cream and sugar and a spoonful of sherry, has a rich smoothness. 1961 L. van der Post Heart of Hunter i. ii. 27 His old lady, dark and wrinkled with age like a passion fruit about to fall. 1969 Oxf. Bk. Food Plants 98/1 Passion Fruit or Purple Granadilla (Passiflora edulis). A perennial climbing plant, originally native to Brazil but now widely planted in the tropics, it is also sufficiently hardy to be grown in some Mediterranean countries. 1974 Herald (Melbourne) 5 Apr. 23/1 Pavlova,..a crusty meringue-like sweet-cake made from egg whites and sugar and topped with whipped cream and, usually, passionfruit. 1976 Observer 17 Oct. 36/3 (Advt.), Easy to grow delicious passion fruits. Our own specially cultivated pot-grown species of Granadilla for fruiting in Britain. 1977 ‘E. Crispin’ Glimpses of Moon xii. 235 The infant Grand Duchess..lisps a request for a glass of..passion-fruit juice. |
| 1943 C. H. Ward-Jackson Piece of Cake 47 *Passion killers, service knickers issued to airwomen. 1946 J. Irving Royal Navalese 136 An elastic-bound bifurcated undergarment said to be worn in the women's Services and known..as ‘passion-killers’. 1974 Times 17 Dec. 12/5 Stout fleecy lined drawers..which would have been called by this generation ‘passion-killers’. |
| 1707 Mortimer Husb. (1721) II. 148 Another sort of Lettices, called *Passion Lettice, prosper well in light Ground. |
| 1880 W. S. Rockstro in Grove's Dict. Mus. II. 665 Here then we have the first idea of the ‘*Passion Oratorio’. |
| 1870 in J. Brown Lett. (1912) 378 I was very much touched by the *Passion-play, and wrote some very bad verses at Ammergau. 1873 Baedeker's South. Germany (ed. 3) 128 Ober-Ammergau, celebrated for the passion-plays performed there every ten years. 1965 B. Sweet-Escott Baker St. Irreg. iii. 90 It turned out to be..the ritual passion play on the 10th of the month of Muharram which commemorates the death of Hassan. 1975 Listener 10 Apr. 472/3 Going to Oberammergau to the Passion Play. |
| 1825 D. L. Richardson Sonn. 27 While its *passion-tides serener flow. |
| 1741 Compl. Fam.-Piece ii. iii. 362 If you now plant, and make Layers of the *Passion-tree, in most Places, it will make it bear Fruit. |
| 1853 ‘P. Paxton’ Stray Yankee in Texas 57 The ‘*passion vine’ with its singular flower and luscious fruit. 1862 R. Henning Let. 23 Sept. (1966) 100 A veranda covered with passion-vine and a garden full of petunias in most brilliant flower. 1892 Daily News 27 Aug. 3/1 A dish of the edible fruit of the passion vine. 1946 Coast to Coast 1945 64 Let his girls dig in the orchard or chip around the passion-vines. 1957 M. West Kundu ii. 19 A passion vine trailing over a bamboo summer-house. 1969 West Australians 5 July 41/7 (Advt.), Nellie Kelly the amazing grafted passion vine. |
| 1948 Partridge Dict. Forces' Slang 137 *Passion waggon, truck taking men for a day's, or part of a day's, leave, into a town or place of entertainment. 1961 New Left Rev. Jan.–Feb. 24/2 He knows every girl who comes out the base on Saturday on the passion-wagon. |
▪ II. passion, v. (
ˈpæʃən)
[a. OF. passionner (Godef.), f. passion passion n.] 1. trans. To affect or imbue with passion.
| c 1468 Paston Lett. II. 324 The seyd Fastolf, mevyd and passyoned gretely in his soule, seyd and swar by Cryst ys sides [etc.]. 1567 Fenton Trag. Disc. Ded., To see the follye of a foolishe lover passioninge himselfe uppon creditt. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. ix. 41 Great wonder had the knight to see the mayd So straungely passioned. 1818 Keats Endym. i. 248 For whose soul-soothing quiet, turtles Passion their voices cooingly. 1886 W. Alexander St. August. Holiday 214 The land where Jordan passioneth His poetry of waterfalls night and day. |
† b. To move or impel by passion.
Obs. rare—1.
| 1502 Ord. Crysten Men (W. de W. 1506) i. vii. 67 That he be inclyned and passyoned to take vengeaunce. |
c. To express with passion or deep feeling.
| 1884 W. C. Smith Kildrostan i. iii. 6 In the old home..She sits alone, and passions her sharp pain. |
† 2. To affect with suffering, to afflict.
Obs.| 1491 Caxton Vitas Patr. (W. de W. 1495) ii. 205/1 A dyscyple of his that was sore passyoned & tourmented of a greuous maladye. 1576 Baker Jewell of Health 125 b, It especially helpeth the strangurie and those passioned with the stone. a 1626 Bp. Andrewes Serm., Passion i. (1661) 221 Whom..in body and soul..they have pierced and passioned..on the Cross. |
3. intr. To show, express, or be affected by passion or deep feeling; formerly
esp. to sorrow.
| 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. i. i. 264. 1591 ― Two Gent. iv. iv. 172 'Twas Ariadne, passioning For Theseus periury, and vniust flight. 1598 Chapman Bl. Beggar Alex. Plays 1873 I. 33 How now Queene, what art thou doing, passioning over the picture of Cleanthes? 1610 Shakes. Temp. v. i. 24 Shall not my selfe, One of their kinde..Passion as they? 1819 Keats Lamia i. 182 She stood..By a clear pool, wherein she passioned To see herself escaped from so sore ills. 1870 Gd. Words 418 Larks passioning hung o'er their brooding wives. 1887 W. Sharp Shelley 98 There can be few of us who..so passion for this passion as did Shelley. |
Hence
ˈpassioning vbl. n.| 1844 Mrs. Browning Vis. Poets cxxxv, Burns, with pungent passionings Set in his eyes. 1900 S. Phillips Paolo & Francesca 102 Your blood is crimson with my passioning. |