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Middle English Dictionary Entry
passing(e ppl. adj.
Entry Info
| Forms | passing(e ppl. adj. Also pasinde, passand(e. Comp. passingar, -ur. |
| Etymology | Cp. passen v. |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
1.
(a) Going by, passing, traveling; (b) permeating, penetrating; also fig.; (c) her. passant.
2.
(a) Transitory, fleeting; (b) ~ awei, of a sore: disappearing, healing.
3.
(a) Applied to a good or bad quality, emotion, attitude, condition, etc.: surpassing, excelling; also, excellent, commendable [quot.: a1425]; ~ of delite (renoun, etc.), of surpassing delight (renoun, etc.); (b) of a physical property: exceeding, extreme; of a physical sensation or disease: severe, extreme; ~ cold (hete, heighnesse, moisture, etc.); ~ bitinge (peine); (c) of a deed, an accomplishment, ability: outstanding, remarkable, noteworthy; of a sin: very evil; of a medicine: highly effective, excellent; ~ of pouer (gret might), superior in strength; (d) of human beings: outstanding, preeminent, special; also, egregious; (e) ~ age, of wine: maturity; of a man: old age; (f) exceeding in number, more; exceeding in size, very large; ~ plente, great abundance; (g) ~ of understondinge, transcendent in meaning; (h) ~ dai, a day on which one's forgiving attitude surpasses that of other days; (i) comp. passinger, preferable.
4.
Med. That conveys, channeling, transmitting; ~ pores, the renal veins and the ureters.
5.
Casual, superficial, hasty; of the use of a word: not strictly accurate, loose.
6.
?Turning aside, evading; ?turned aside, warded off.
Supplemental Materials (draft)
Note: This entry might well have been treated in its entirety under the verb passen. Compare in particular passen v. sense 11b., 'as quasi-conj. or prep.,' which contains examples similar to those here. It appears that examples in which passing took an object of some sort were treated under the verb, and those in which it did were treated here.
Supplemental Materials (draft)
Note: The Medulla quot. glossing 'anagoge', and sense 3.(g) for which it is the only evidence, should probably both be deleted, and the quot. transferred to passing(e ger.
Supplemental Materials (draft)
- a1450 Aelred Inst.(2) (Bod 423)13/509 : He fel in gret passyng siknesse by an entishynge of his stomak.
Note: New quot. for sense 3.(b) This instance applies to a sickness.
