en passant

/Ỵ:m'pæ:sỴ:ɳ/

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The term "en passant" comes from French and is used in both everyday conversation and in chess. Let’s break it down:

Basic Definition

1. As an Adverb: "En passant" means incidentally or in the course of doing something else. For example, if someone mentions something casually while talking about another topic, you can say they mentioned it "en passant."

   • Example: "She mentioned en passant that she would be moving to another city."

2. As a Noun (in Chess): In chess, "en passant" is a special move. When a pawn moves two squares forward from its starting position and lands beside an opponent's pawn, the opponent can capture that pawn as if it had only moved one square.

   • Example: "After my opponent moved his pawn two squares forward, I captured it en passant."

Usage Instructions

• Use "en passant" in conversation when referring to something that is mentioned casually or as an aside.
• In chess, you can use "en passant" to describe the specific capture of a pawn.

Advanced Usage

In more advanced discussions, you might see "en passant" used in literary or philosophical contexts to describe ideas or themes that are introduced briefly without becoming the main focus of the conversation.

Word Variants

The phrase "en passant" is borrowed directly from French and does not have different forms or variants in English. It is often italicized or placed in quotation marks since it is a foreign term.

Different Meanings

• Casual Mention: Referring to ideas or topics that are not the main focus of discussion.
• Chess Move: A specific rule in chess regarding the capture of a pawn.

Synonyms

• For the adverbial meaning: "incidentally," "by the way," "in passing."
• For the chess move: There are no direct synonyms, but it can be described as "capturing en passant."

Idioms and Phrasal Verbs

• While "en passant" itself is not commonly part of idioms or phrasal verbs, you might encounter phrases like "by the way" or "in passing," which convey a similar casual mention.

Summary

"En passant" is a versatile term used in casual conversation to mean something mentioned incidentally, and it also has a specific meaning in chess regarding a pawn capture.

Academic

Adverb

1. incidentally; in the course of doing something else
   • he made this remark in passing

Noun

1. (chess) a chess pawn that is moved two squares can be captured by an opponent's pawn commanding the square that was passed

Synonyms

• in passing