pas·sion
(păsh́ən)
[Middle English, from Old French, from Medieval Latin passiō, passiōn-, sufferings of Jesus or a martyr, from Late Latin, physical suffering, martyrdom, sinful desire, from Latin, an undergoing, from passus past participle of patī, to suffer.]
noun
- A powerful emotion, such as love, joy, hatred, or anger.
- Ardent love.
- Strong sexual desire; lust.
- The object of such love or desire.
- Boundless enthusiasm: His skills as a player don't quite match his passion for the game.
- The object of such enthusiasm: Soccer is her passion.
- An abandoned display of emotion, especially of anger: He's been known to fly into a passion without warning.
- The sufferings of Jesus in the period following the Last Supper and including the Crucifixion, as related in the New Testament.
- A narrative, musical setting, or pictorial representation of Jesus's sufferings.
- Archaic Martyrdom.
- Archaic Passivity.
synonyms:
passion, fervor, fire, zeal, ardor These nouns denote powerful, intense emotion. Passion is a deep, overwhelming emotion: “There is not a passion so strongly rooted in the human heart as envy” (Richard Brinsley Sheridan) The term may signify sexual desire or anger: “He flew into a violent passion and abused me mercilessly” (H.G. Wells) Fervor is great warmth and intensity of feeling: “The union of the mathematician with the poet, fervor with measure, passion with correctness, this surely is the ideal” (William James) Fire is burning passion: “In our youth our hearts were touched with fire” (Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.) Zeal is strong, enthusiastic devotion to a cause, ideal, or goal and tireless diligence in its furtherance: “Laurie, with a glow of philanthropic zeal, to found and endow an institution for … women with artistic tendencies” (Louisa May Alcott) Ardor is fiery intensity of feeling: “the furious ardor of my zeal repressed” (Charles Churchill)- See also: feeling
