pas

step, pace, footstep; strait, pass; thread, pitch (of a screw or nut)

“Des pas qu'on gravait dans la neige sont partis avec le printemps.” — Steps we etched in the snow are gone with the [arrival of] spring.

Inherited from Old French pas, from Latin passus. Its use as an auxiliary negative adverb comes from an accusative use (Latin nec… passum) in negative constructions – literally “not… a step”, i.e. “not at all” – originally used with certain verbs of motion. In older French other nouns could also be used in this way, such as ne… goutte (“not… a drop”) and ne… mie (“not… a crumb”), but in the modern language pas has become grammaticalized.

The most common adverb of negation in French, typically translating into English as not, don't, doesn't, etc.; used as an intensifier in underlying rhetorical questions, mostly with voilà

“Je ne sais pas.” — I don't know

Inherited from Old French pas, from Latin passus. Its use as an auxiliary negative adverb comes from an accusative use (Latin nec… passum) in negative constructions – literally “not… a step”, i.e. “not at all” – originally used with certain verbs of motion. In older French other nouns could also be used in this way, such as ne… goutte (“not… a drop”) and ne… mie (“not… a crumb”), but in the modern language pas has become grammaticalized.