Etymology

pat

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Today it means: The sound of a light slap or tap with a soft flat object, especially of a footstep. Full definition →

Middle English pat ← Old English plætt ← Proto-West Germanic *platt
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pat · noun1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*blod-
  2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*plat-“to strike, beat”
  3. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*platt“a smack, slap, blow”
  4. Old English · inherited fromplætt“a sounding blow, a smack”
  5. Middle English · inherited frompat“a blow, stroke”
  6. English todaypat

From Middle English pat (“a blow, stroke”), alteration (with loss of medial l) of *plat (> Scots plat (“a blow, buffet”)), from Old English plætt (“a sounding blow, a smack”), from Proto-West Germanic *platt (“a smack, slap, blow”), from Proto-Germanic *plat- (“to strike, beat”), from Proto-Indo-European *blod-, *bled- (“to strike, beat”). Cognate with Middle Dutch plat (“a smack, blow, slap”), Middle Low German plat (“a smack, blow, beating”), Middle High German plaz, blaz (“a resounding blow, bang, crash”). For loss of l, compare patch for platch; pate for plate, etc. See plat.

pat · verb, adjective, adverb2

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*blod-
  2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*plat-“to strike, beat”
  3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*plattjan
  4. Old English · derived fromplættan“to buffet, strike, slap, smack, give a sounding blow”
  5. Middle English · inherited from*patten
  6. English todaypat

From Middle English *patten, alteration (with loss of medial l) of platten, pletten (“to pat”), from Old English plættan (“to buffet, strike, slap, smack, give a sounding blow”), from Proto-West Germanic *plattjan, from Proto-Germanic *plat- (“to strike, beat”), from Proto-Indo-European *blod-, *bled- (“to strike, beat”). Cognate with Middle Dutch platten, pletten (“to strike, bruise, crush, rub”), German platzen (“to split, burst, break up”), Bavarian patzen (“to pat”), Swedish plätta, pjätta (“to pat, tap”). For loss of l, compare patch for platch; pate for plate, etc. See plat.

pat · adjective3

Clipping of patrician.

Pat · proper noun4

  1. Yucatec Maya · borrowed fromPat
  2. English todayPat

Various origins: * Borrowed from Yucatec Maya Pat. This surname is mostly found in Yucatán. * Borrowed from Khmer.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.