visa
Definitions
General Science
- noun (written as VISA)a strain of a common infection-causing bacterium that shows some resistance to treatment by the antibiotic vancomycin
- acronym forvancomycin intermediate Staphylococcus aureus (written as VISA)
Banking
- trademark (written as VISA™)a trademark for an international credit card system
Commerce
- noun a special document, special stamp in a passport which allows someone to enter a country
Origin & History of “visa”
A visa is etymologically something ‘seen’. The word comes via French visa from Latin vīsa, literally ‘things seen’, a noun use of the neuter plural form of the past participle of vidēre ‘see’ (source of English vision, visit, etc). The notion underlying the word is that a visa is a note or other mark made on a passport to signify that it has been officially ‘seen’ or examined.
