A passport is an official booklet from your government that proves who you are and what country you are from, especially when you travel to other countries. You usually need it to enter or leave a country.
“Passport” comes from French *passeport*, which literally meant “to pass through a port or gate.” Originally, it was more like a written permission that let people or goods go through city walls or harbors.
A passport started out as permission to pass a gate, not a whole country’s border. So in a way, every time you use it, you’re still asking to pass a gate—just a much bigger, more powerful one. The little book you hold is actually a portable letter from your entire country saying, “Yes, this person belongs to us.”
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