visa

Definition

A permit to enter and leave a country, normally issued by the authorities of the country to be visited.

Etymology

From 1831, "official signature or endorsement on a passport," from French visa, from Latin charta vīsa (“paper that has been seen”) from feminine perfect passive of Latin vidēre (“to see”). Compare vision, video, vista.

Example Sentences

• "I came on a six-month tourist visa."
• "Several Sun MySQLers have been denied short stay business visas to Australia - yes, Australia - as they attempted to attend a Linux conference in Hobart, Tasmania. According to a blog post from Kaj Arno, vice president in charge of "database community" at Sun Microsystems, several employees - many of whom worked with MySQL - have been barred from entering Oz."
• "However, I couldn't continue by land to Georgia, as I would have liked: Russia still maintains its crazy, Sovietesque visa regulations, which makes getting a transit visa extremely difficult and extremely expensive."