pad

pad · noun, verb¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*pent-“to pass”
2. West Flemish · borrowed frompad“sole of the foot”
3. English todaypad

1554, "bundle of straw to lie on". Unknown, and unclear whether all senses have a common etymology. For sense "ends of a digit", cf. Low German or West Flemish pad (“sole of the foot”), perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pent- (“to pass”), which would make it related to both path and find.

pad · noun²

1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*paddǭ“toad”
2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*paddā
3. Old English · inherited frompadde
4. Middle English · inherited frompade
5. English todaypad

From Middle English pade, padde, from Old English padde, from Proto-West Germanic *paddā, from Proto-Germanic *paddǭ (“toad”). Cognate with Dutch pad, German Low German Pad (“toad”), dialectal German Padde, Danish padde, Swedish padda, Icelandic padda (“toad”), and possibly to English paddle. Doublet of pode

pad · noun³

1. Middle Low German · derived frompat“path”
2. Dutch · derived frompad
3. English todaypad

From Dutch pad or Middle Low German pat (“path”). Doublet of path.

pad · noun⁴

Perhaps an alteration of ped.

pad · verb⁵

1. Middle Low German · derived frompat
2. English todaypad

Probably partly from Middle Low German pat, partly imitative. Some senses possibly influenced by pad (“soft part of an animal's foot”, noun).

pad · interjection, noun⁶

Probably imitative, perhaps related to or influenced by Etymology 5, above.

Words from the same roots