puddle

The story

1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*puddaz
2. Old English · inherited frompudd“ditch”
3. Middle English · inherited frompodel
4. English todaypuddle

From Middle English podel, diminutive of Old English pudd (“ditch”), from Proto-Germanic *puddaz (compare Low German Pudel (“puddle”), Middle High German podel (“quagmire, mudhole”), Hunsrik Puttel, dialectal German Pfudel (“puddle”), German pudeln (“to splash about”)), ultimately imitative.

First known use, by meaning

• from 14th c. A small, often temporary, pool of water, usually on a path or road.
• from 16th c. Stagnant or polluted water.
• from 18th c. A homogeneous mixture of clay, water, and sometimes grit, used to line a canal or pond to make it watertight.