pace

Etymology 1

From Middle English pase, from Anglo-Norman pas, Old French pas, and their source, Latin passus. Doublet of pas and fathom; compare also pass. Cognate with Spanish pasear.

noun

1. Step.
   1. A step taken with the foot.
   2. The distance covered in a step (or sometimes two), either vaguely or according to various specific set measurements.
      Even at the duel, standing 10 paces apart, he could have satisfied Aaron’s honor.
      I have perambulated your field, and estimate its perimeter to be 219 paces.
2. Way of stepping.
   1. A manner of walking, running or dancing; the rate or style of how someone moves with their feet.
      Netherlands, one of the pre-tournament favourites, combined their undoubted guile, creativity, pace and attacking quality with midfield grit and organisation. June 9, 2012, Owen Phillips, “Euro 2012: Netherlands 0-1 Denmark”, in BBC Sport
   2. Any of various gaits of a horse, specifically a 2-beat, lateral gait.
3. Speed or velocity in general.
   The fastest women runners can run a mile in well under five minutes, but in order to reach that goal they've had to train at a much slower pace over thousands of miles. 1983, Kathryn Lance, Running for Health, Bantam
4. (cricket) A measure of the hardness of a pitch and of the tendency of a cricket ball to maintain its speed after bouncing.
5. (collective) A group of donkeys.
   […] but at Broadstairs and other places along the coast, a pace of donkeys stood on the sea-shore expectant (at least, their owners were expectant) of children clamouring to ride. 1952, G. B. Stern, The Donkey Shoe, The Macmillan Company, published 1952, page 29
   A pace of donkeys fans out in different directions. 9 November 2006, “Drop the dead donkeys”, in The Economist
   Like a small farm, the lighthouse compound had its chattering of chicks, pace of donkeys, troop of horses, and fold of sheep. 2007, Elinor De Wire, The Lightkeepers' Menagerie: Stories of Animals at Lighthouses, Pineapple Press, published 2007, page 200
6. (obsolete) Passage, route.
   1. (obsolete) One's journey or route.
   2. (obsolete) A passage through difficult terrain; a mountain pass or route vulnerable to ambush etc.
   3. (obsolete) An aisle in a church.

adj

1. (cricket) Describing a bowler who bowls fast balls.

verb

1. To walk back and forth in a small distance.
   Groups of men, in all imaginable attitudes, were lying, standing, sitting, or pacing up and down. 1874, Marcus Clarke, For the Term of His Natural Life, Chapter V
2. To set the speed in a race.
3. To measure by walking.

Etymology 2

From Latin pāce (“in peace”), ablative form of pāx (“peace”).

prep

1. (formal) With all due respect to.
   She is marvelous here, but he (pace many critics) is no bumpkin 1998, Harold Bloom, Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human

Etymology 3

Alteration of archaic Pasch.

noun

1. Easter.