Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun An official authorization appended to a passport, permitting entry into and travel within a particular country or region.
  • transitive verb To endorse or ratify (a passport).
  • transitive verb To give a visa to.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun See vis�.
  • transitive verb To indorse, after examination, with the word visé, as a passport; to visé.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A permit to enter and leave a country, normally issued by the authorities of the country to be visited.
  • verb transitive, dated To endorse (a passport, etc.).

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb provide (a passport) with a visa
  • verb approve officially
  • noun an endorsement made in a passport that allows the bearer to enter the country issuing it

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, short for Latin (carta) vīsa, (the document has been) seen, from feminine past participle of vidēre, to see; see weid- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From 1831, "official signature or endorsement on a passport," from French visa, from Latin charta visa (meaning "paper that has been seen") from feminine perfect passive of Latin videre ("to see").

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Examples

  • At the same time the Israelis have stressed before the American authorities their well-known position to make sure that the State Department refuse a visa of entry to Isam Sartawi, Sabri Jeries and Mrs. Hamami, the widow of the late Said Hamami [who was assassinated in London in December 1977 by Iraqi agents because of his open advocacy of peace on the basis of a Palestinian state alongside Israel] in case they request such visa….

    The Palestinian Position: An Exchange Peled, Mattityahu 1980

  • It also appears from the Hebrew (and not accurately reflected in the translation) that the visa is a specialized one (a “Nuclear Research Visa”) subject to more discretion that a regular entry visa.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » U.S. Denying Entry Visas to People Who Work on Israel’s Dimona Nuclear Reactor? 2010

  • I have a valid FM3 visa, but no where in the visa is there an expiration date.

    FM3 Rumor du jour 2008

  • Now, they want that included in what they call visa VIPER cables that are sent to Washington, and they include information on potentially suspicious people.

    CNN Transcript Dec 31, 2009 2009

  • The fee applies whether or not the visa is actually granted by the US government.

    Charge for Mexican passport? 2006

  • I think charging people over $100 for the courtesy of being denied a visa is also highway robbery.

    Frustrated and Sad - anything to do? 2003

  • Usually the visa is approved for a maximum period of 90 days if you arrive in Mexico by plane for a vacation, after which it can be renewed for an additional 90 days at any Mexican Immigration office.

    Visa and entry requirements: 2008 immigration update 1997

  • Usually the visa is approved for a maximum period of 90 days if you arrive in Mexico by plane for a vacation, after which it can be renewed for an additional 90 days at any Mexican Immigration office.

    Visa and entry requirements: 2008 immigration update 1997

  • Usually the visa is approved for a maximum period of 90 days if you arrive in Mexico by plane for a vacation, after which it can be renewed for an additional 90 days at any Mexican Immigration office.

    Visa and entry requirements: 2008 immigration update 1997

  • They claim that the fame of Visa, the credit card, has so outstripped the fame of "visa," the English word, that anyone who names a company or product "visa" (even, presumably, a book called "How to Get an American H1B Work-Visa") is ripping off their intellectual property.

    Boing Boing: November 10, 2002 - November 16, 2002 Archives 2002

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