pad
Pad, a cushion, is of obscure origin; pad, to walk softly, is probably from Middle Dutch paden, from pad, a path.[1][2][3]
Pronunciation
- IPA: /pæd/[4]
pad1 cushion
Etymology
It is a word of unknown or obscure origin,[1][2][3][5] perhaps a merger of several separate words,[2] possibly related to Low German or obsolete Flemish pad, the sole of the foot.[2][3][5]
Earliest recorded meaning
A bundle of straw to lie on: 1554, the 1550s in Etymonline.[1][2][6]
Semantic evolution
A soft stuffed saddle is from 1570,[1] and something soft like a cushion from before 1700.[1][2] The slang sense, a bed, is from 1718,[1] later underworld slang for a sleeping place, and was revived about 1959 in beatnik and hippie speech for a temporary place to sleep or take drugs,[2][5] becoming a general word for a place to live in the 1970s.[5] The fleshy cushion of an animal's foot is from 1836–39.[1][2] A writing or drawing pad of paper is first recorded in Dickens's Our Mutual Friend (1865),[1][2] and a launching pad for rockets from 1949.[1][2] The verb, to stuff, is from 1827,[2][1] to fill out writing with extraneous matter from 1831, in Macaulay,[1][2] and to inflate an expense account by 1890–1913.[2][1] A padded cell is from 1862.[2]
Timeline
- 1554 – a bundle of straw.[1]
- 1570 – a soft saddle.[1]
- 1718 – a bed (slang).[1]
- 1827 – to stuff (verb).[2]
- 1865 – a writing pad.[1]
- 1949 – a launch pad.[1]
- c. 1959 – a place to live (slang).[2]
Modern meaning
Noun
- A thick piece of soft material used to cushion, protect or give shape.
- A number of sheets of paper fastened together at one edge.
- An ink-soaked cushion for a rubber stamp.
- The fleshy cushion on the underside of an animal's foot.
- A flat area for helicopters or rocket launches.
- (slang) A person's home or flat.
Verb
- To line or stuff with soft material.
- To lengthen speech or writing with unnecessary material, or to inflate an account.
Word family
- padding
- padded
pad2 walk
Etymology
It is probably borrowed from Middle Dutch paden (“to walk along a path, make a path”), from pad, pat, path (see path),[1][2][6] or from Low German padden, to tread, perhaps imitative of the sound of feet.[3][5][2]
Earliest recorded meaning
To walk, tramp, trudge: 1553, the 1550s in Etymonline, originally a cant word of criminals and vagabonds.[1][2][5]
Semantic evolution
English also had the noun pad, a path or road, from the 1560s, originally slang,[2][7] hence robbery on the highway (1664) and a highway robber (1673),[7] and the source of footpad.[5] To walk with soft, dull-sounding steps is first recorded in 1871.[1]
Timeline
Modern meaning
Verb
- To walk softly or with muffled steps.
- To go on foot; to tramp along a route.
Noun
- The soft, muffled sound of footsteps.
Word family
- footpad
Related words
Usage notes
Pad was also an old word for a toad, from Old Norse padda (see paddock).[8][7]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press