path English · revision 3852

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=c. 725|origins=gmw-pro *paþ}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /pɑːθ/, US /pæθ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|path]],^(MWU 2024) [[inh|ang|pæþ|t=narrow passage, track]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) also paþ,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) from [[gmw-pro|*paþ]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) which is also the source of Old Frisian path, Dutch pad and Old High German phad (German Pfad).^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) It is a word of uncertain origin, not found in Old Norse or Gothic,^(Etymonline) and its initial p- is an etymological puzzle in a Germanic word.^(Etymonline) Ringe and Watkins take it as borrowed, perhaps through Scythian, from Iranian *path-, compare Avestan pathō “of the way”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[ine-pro|*pent-|t=to tread, go, pass]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) which would also make it related to Greek pátos “path”, Latin pōns “bridge” and [[find]];^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) the OED finds this too much of a stretch.^(Etymonline) The New Oxford calls its ultimate origin unknown.^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A track trodden by people or animals: about 700 in the OED,^(OED 1989) and about 725 in Barnhart, in a version of ''Exodus'' and in the compound ānpæth “narrow path” in ''Beowulf''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The way along which a person or thing moves is from before 1000,^(OED 1989) and the verb, “to tread a way”, is also Old English.^(OED 1989) In Old Northumbrian it translated Latin vallis “valley”,^(OED 1989) and in Scotland and northern England a path is commonly a steep road or ascent of a hill, from 1375.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) A track for machinery is from 1883,^(OED 1989) a metabolic pathway from 1909,^(OED 1989) and a continuous mapping in mathematics from 1939.^(OED 1989) [[pathway]] is from the 16th century.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 700 – a track.^(OED 1989)

+ * before 1000 – a course, a way.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1375 – a steep road, in the North.^(OED 1989)

+ * 16th century – ''pathway''.^(Hoad 1986)

+ * 1883 – a track for machinery.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1939 – in mathematics.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A track worn by walking; a narrow [[footpath]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A way made for a particular purpose: ''a bicycle path''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The route or course along which something moves.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A course of action or conduct.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[by-path]]

+ * [[multipath]]

+ * [[pathbreaking]]

+ * [[pathfinder]]

+ * [[pathless]]

+ * [[pathway]]

+ * [[towpath]]

+ * [[warpath]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[footpath]]

+ * [[find]]

+ * [[pad]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The combining form [[-path]], as in [[psychopath]], is a separate element, a back-formation from [[-pathy]].^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}