pad English · revision 10477

+ Pad, a cushion, is of obscure origin; pad, to walk softly, is probably from Middle Dutch paden, from pad, a path.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /pæd/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ {{homograph|1|cushion}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=unknown|attested=1554}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a word of unknown or obscure origin,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021) perhaps a merger of several separate words,^(Etymonline) possibly related to Low German or obsolete Flemish pad, the sole of the foot.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A bundle of straw to lie on: 1554, the 1550s in Etymonline.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A soft stuffed saddle is from 1570,^(Barnhart 1988) and something soft like a cushion from before 1700.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The slang sense, a bed, is from 1718,^(Barnhart 1988) 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,^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) becoming a general word for a place to live in the 1970s.^(Cresswell 2021) The fleshy cushion of an animal's foot is from 1836–39.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) A writing or drawing pad of paper is first recorded in Dickens's ''Our Mutual Friend'' (1865),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and a launching pad for rockets from 1949.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The verb, to stuff, is from 1827,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) to fill out writing with extraneous matter from 1831, in Macaulay,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and to inflate an expense account by 1890–1913.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) A ''padded cell'' is from 1862.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1554 – a bundle of straw.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1570 – a soft saddle.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1718 – a bed (slang).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1827 – to stuff (verb).^(Etymonline)

+ * 1865 – a writing pad.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1949 – a launch pad.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1959 – a place to live (slang).^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A thick piece of soft material used to cushion, protect or give shape.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A number of sheets of paper fastened together at one edge.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # An ink-soaked cushion for a rubber stamp.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The fleshy cushion on the underside of an animal's foot.^(AHD)

+ # A flat area for helicopters or rocket launches.^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(slang)'' A person's home or flat.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To line or stuff with soft material.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To lengthen speech or writing with unnecessary material, or to inflate an account.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[padding]]

+ * [[padded]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|walk}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=borrowing|attested=1553|origins=dum paden}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is probably [[bor|dum|paden|t=to walk along a path, make a path]], from pad, pat, path (see [[path]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) or from Low German padden, to tread, perhaps imitative of the sound of feet.^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To walk, tramp, trudge: 1553, the 1550s in Etymonline, originally a cant word of criminals and vagabonds.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ English also had the noun pad, a path or road, from the 1560s, originally slang,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) hence robbery on the highway (1664) and a highway robber (1673),^(OED 1989) and the source of [[footpad]].^(Cresswell 2021) To walk with soft, dull-sounding steps is first recorded in 1871.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1553 – to tramp.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1567 – a path (noun).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1673 – a highwayman.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1871 – to walk softly.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To walk softly or with muffled steps.^(AHD)

+ # To go on foot; to tramp along a route.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The soft, muffled sound of footsteps.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[footpad]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[path]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Pad was also an old word for a toad, from Old Norse padda (see [[paddock]]).^(SOED 2002)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}