Origin: Latin suffix -sion
Passion has 10 different meanings across 2 categories:
a strong feeling or emotion
"Her passion for volunteering drove her to spend every weekend helping at the local shelter."
a feeling of strong sexual desire
"She couldn't keep her passion hidden when they were alone in the dark room."
the suffering of Jesus at the Crucifixion
"They gathered to pray for deliverance from His passion during Holy Week."
Any great, strong, powerful emotion, especially romantic love or extreme hate.
"Her passion for him was so intense that she couldn't stop thinking about him day and night."
In plain English: Passion is a strong feeling of love or excitement for something that makes you want to do it all the time.
"His passion for painting drives him to work late every night."
Usage: Use passion to describe an intense and overwhelming feeling, such as deep romantic love or fierce hatred. It refers specifically to the strength of the emotion rather than just having a casual interest in something.
To suffer pain or sorrow; to experience a passion; to be extremely agitated.
"When she heard the news of her friend's accident, she was so moved that she began to weep and shake with emotion."
In plain English: To have passion as a verb means to feel strong excitement or love for something.
"He really passes for someone who knows everything about wine."
Usage: In modern English, the verb form of "passion" is archaic and rarely used in everyday speech. When you need to describe suffering great pain or extreme agitation, simply use strong synonyms like "suffer," "endure," or "rage" instead.
The sufferings of Jesus Christ from the night of the Last Supper to the Crucifixion.
"The priest read a solemn passage describing the passion during the Good Friday service."
The word "passion" entered Middle English from the Old French passion, which originally described the act of suffering. It traces its roots back to Latin passio and ultimately derives from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to hurt."