Tony M Apr 26, 2013:

passant Whatever exact term you use for it, it doesn't necessarily mean 'opens', so that could be confusing; for example, if this were a switch, then passant = closed!

Claire Cox (asker) Oct 21, 2009:

Client's explanation Once again I referred this back to the client and this was her explanation: "devenir passant" - est-ce qu'on veut dire que l'électrodistributeur ouvre? Non, il se met en position pour laisser passer le fluide. I decided the safest option was simply to translate the explanation into English to avoid any confusion! Many thanks for your suggestions though.

Tony M Oct 15, 2009:

uncoupled ...has been suggested by translexIQ in his answer to one of your other questions, and I rather feel that could be a suitable term here.

David Manson Oct 15, 2009:

'Etat passant' would usually be translated as 'on-state', in the context of conductivity. It seems as though this might apply here. Hope this helps.

Tony M Oct 15, 2009:

I think you'll find... ...it means something like 'pass-through' — i.e. it becomes 'transparent', 'doesn't get in the way'; but I'm afraid I don't know how to express that more technically in EN, and indeed, I suspect it may depend on the actual device itself, and just how it operates.