[Ads-l] Antedating of "passcode"

[Steven Losie]

Passcode (OED3, 1982)

[begin quote]
The partitioned material can be retrieved by use of a 'pass code' and if
the number of documents capable of retrieval by a particular search
strategy includes the partitioned documents, permission to access these
documents can always be sought by a user.
[end quote]
Source: NRCd Bulletin, Vol. 6, No. 1, p. 161, col. 1
Date: Winter 1972/73
Article title: Design Principles for an On-Line Information System
Accessing Multiple Files and Using Microfiches — FISHROD
Author: B. T. Stern
Database: Google Books (snippet view), confirmed by consulting a physical
copy at the New York Public Library
https://books.google.com/books?id=7t4cAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA161&dq=%22pass-code%22

[begin quote]
Those with dial phones at home or office simply call the bank, talk to a
real live bank teller, give their secret pass-code number, tell who they
want to pay and how much.

[..]

The computer repeats the number by voice, then asks for your secret pass
code.
[end quote]
Source: New York Times, 18 Jul 1976, p.76, col.5
Article title: Let Your Fingers Do the Paying: Fingers Do the Paying
Author: Harriet King
Database: ProQuest Historical Newspapers

The New York Times article cited above was reprinted in a slightly altered
version in Toronto's Globe and Mail on 23 Jul 1976, p.11/1, where the first
instance of "pass-code" is written as one word without the hyphen, as
"passcode". This same article was also reprinted in the Index-Journal
(Greenwood, South Carolina), 25 Aug 1976, p.14/1, though the same instance
of "pass-code" appears at a line break, so it's unclear what the intention
of the hyphen is.

[begin quote]
On the question of illegal access, I think the important point is that the
terminals are locked, and can be opened only by specific key holders. A
pass code must be entered and accepted. Then it is necessary to know the
request codes to obtain any information.
[end quote]
Source: (New Zealand) Parliamentary Debates: House of Representatives,
Third Session, Thirty-Eight Parliament, Volume 410, Comprising the Period
>From 19 May to 16 June 1977
Date: 2 June 1977
Page: 321
Database: Google Books
https://books.google.com/books?id=W0IhAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA321&dq=%22pass-code%22

OED3 only has an entry for "passcode" as a noun, but it is occasionally
found as an adjective, or, at least, as part of a compound noun, as in
"passcode number" or "passcode generator". The following is the earliest
example of this usage that I could find:

[begin quote]
Each Passcard Plus customer receives a personal account number, as well as
a secret Passcode number.
[end quote]
Source: The Daily Chronicle (Centralia, Washington), 15 Apr 1976, p.10,
col.5
Article title: Savings bank offers checkless method of bill paying to
depositors
Database: Newspapers.com

The New York Times article cited above also uses "pass-code number",
published a couple months later.

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