Trivia time again.
We take so many things for granted in life. An international traveller lives and dies by the words, Passport and Visa. I thought the Passport orginated from sea travel as a document that allows a person to Pass a Port. I couldnt be more wrong.
I was surprised to learn that its origin has its roots from a medieval document required to pass through the gate ("porte") of a city wall. In medieval Europe such documents were issued to travelers by local authorities, and generally contained a list of towns and cities into which a document holder was permitted to pass. On the whole, documents were not required for travel to sea ports, which were considered open trading points, but documents were required to travel inland from sea ports. Thus the Passport meant that it allows one to Pass the Porte (gate).
Now to Visa. The word Visa has its origin in Latin word - charta visa, lit, meaning "paper that has been seen. It is an indication that a person is authorized to enter the country which "issued" the visa, subject to permission of an immigration official at the time of actual entry. Of course we know the second part of it, but not the origin of the word
