(Go: >> BACK << -|- >> HOME <<)

English

edit

Pronunciation

edit

Etymology 1

edit

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-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.

Noun

edit

pat (plural pats)

  1. The sound of a light slap or tap with a soft flat object, especially of a footstep
    We heard a pat on the door.
  2. A light tap or slap, especially with the hands
    Give Mary a pat on the shoulder to get her attention.
  3. A flattish lump of soft matter, especially butter or dung.
Derived terms
edit
Translations
edit

Verb

edit

pat (third-person singular simple present pats, present participle patting, simple past and past participle patted)

  1. To (gently) tap the flat of one's hand on a person or thing.
    To show affection, he decided he would pat the boy on the head.
  2. To hit lightly and repeatedly with the flat of the hand to make smooth or flat
    I patted the cookie dough into shape.
    • 1900 May 17, L[yman] Frank Baum, chapter 23, in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chicago, Ill., New York, N.Y.: Geo[rge] M[elvin] Hill Co., →OCLC:
      Before they went to see Glinda, however, they were taken to a room of the Castle, where Dorothy washed her face and combed her hair, and the Lion shook the dust out of his mane, and the Scarecrow patted himself into his best shape, and the Woodman polished his tin and oiled his joints.
  3. (UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa) To stroke or fondle (an animal). Compare pet.
    Do you want to pat the cat?
  4. To gently rain.
Derived terms
edit
Translations
edit
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Adjective

edit

pat (comparative more pat, superlative most pat)

  1. Exactly suitable, fitting, apt; timely, convenient, opportune, ready for the occasion; especially of things spoken.
    a pat expression
    • 1788, William Cowper, Pity For Poor Africans 17–20:
      Your scruples and arguments bring to my mind a story so pat, you may think it is coin’d, on purpose to answer you, out of my mint; but, I can assure you, I saw it in print.
    • 1862, John Williamson Palmer, Stonewall Jackson's Way :
      Come, stack arms, Men! Pile on the rails; stir up the campfire bright; no matter if the canteen fails, we'll make a roaring night. Here Shenandoah brawls along, there burly Blue Ridge echoes strong, to swell the Brigade's rousing song, of “Stonewall Jackson’s Way.”
      We see him now — the old slouched hat cocked o’er his eye askew, the shrewd, dry smile, the speech so pat, so calm, so blunt, so true.
  2. Trite, being superficially complete, lacking originality.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:hackneyed
    • 1987 August 15, Laurie Sherman, “What's A Dyke To Do? A Lesbian Reluctantly Enters The Age Of Safe Sex”, in Gay Community News, volume 15, number 5, page 11:
      While most AIDS activists and researchers I spoke with agreed I shouldn't offer pat safe/unsafe categories, let me share some pretty widely accepted information.
    • 2010 May 22, “Jobs and the Class of 2010”, in The New York Times[1], →ISSN:
      The pat answer is that college students should consider graduate school as a way to delay a job search until things turn around, and that more high school students should go to college to improve their prospects.
    • 2021 July 14, A. A. Dowd, “Space Jam: A New Legacy is one big, witless commercial for Warner Bros properties”, in The A.V. Club[2]:
      Space Jam: A New Legacy takes almost nothing but wrong turns, all leading to a glittering CGI trash heap of cameos, pat life lessons, and stale internet catchphrases.
    • 2021, Kate Crawford, chapter 2, in Atlas of AI [] , →ISBN:
      Pat responses from management seemed to be multiple variations on the theme of “We value your feedback.”
Derived terms
edit
Translations
edit

Adverb

edit

pat (comparative more pat, superlative most pat)

  1. Opportunely, in a timely or suitable way.
  2. Perfectly.
    He has the routine down pat.
    • 1922 September 22, “At the Wauwatosa Table”, in City Club News, volume viii, number 2, Milwaukee, page 7:
      Wauwa Pease says of the strategic position of the Pirates in the dining room: “They have taken the table near the upper doorway so they can make a speedy exit in case their lair is raided.” Of course, the Wauwas stand pat in the middle of the dining room, having nothing to fear.
    • 1962, Newsweek:
      Candidates in gubernatorial campaigns must stand pat in the middle, trying to push their rivals off the center line, charging the opponent with either left or right extremism.
    • 1995, Ken Saro-Wiwa, A Month and a Day, page 112:
      In Ogoni[land], Shell locations lie pat in the middle of villages, in front and back gardens – and that should lay a particular responsibility on Shell to be absolutely cautious in its operations.
Translations
edit

See also

edit

Etymology 2

edit

Noun

edit

pat (plural pats)

  1. Clipping of patent.
  2. (knitting) Clipping of pattern.
    • 2012, Kari Cornell, Knitting Sweaters from around the World, page 52:
      Work in pat to next underarm marker, sm, place next st on holder []

Etymology 3

edit

Clipping of patrician.

Adjective

edit

pat (comparative more pat, superlative most pat)

  1. (slang) Upper-class, nobby.

See also

edit

Further reading

edit

Anagrams

edit

Albanian

edit

Alternative forms

edit

Etymology

edit

Alternative variant of participles patur, pasë, pasur. See pata (I had) (aorist form of kam (I have)) for more.

Pronunciation

edit

Participle

edit

pat

  1. participle of kam (present)
  2. participle of pata (aorist)
edit

Aromanian

edit

Alternative forms

edit

Etymology

edit

From Latin patior. Compare Daco-Romanian păți.

Verb

edit

pat first-singular present indicative (past participle pãtsitã)

  1. to experience, undergo (something bad, unpleasant, unexpected, etc.)
edit

Bakung

edit

Etymology

edit

From Proto-North Sarawak *əpat, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *əpat, from Proto-Austronesian *Səpat.

Numeral

edit

pat

  1. four

Bariai

edit

Noun

edit

pat

  1. stone

References

edit

Belait

edit

Etymology

edit

From Proto-North Sarawak *əpat, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *əpat, from Proto-Austronesian *Səpat.

Numeral

edit

pat

  1. four

Bintulu

edit

Etymology

edit

From Proto-North Sarawak *əpat, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *əpat, from Proto-Austronesian *Səpat.

Numeral

edit

pat

  1. four

Bunun

edit

Etymology

edit

From Proto-Austronesian *Səpat.

Numeral

edit

pat

  1. four

Central Melanau

edit
Central Melanau cardinal numbers
 <  3 4 5  > 
    Cardinal : pat

Etymology

edit

From Proto-North Sarawak *əpat, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *əpat, from Proto-Austronesian *Səpat.

Numeral

edit

pat

  1. four

Chinese

edit

Etymology 1

edit

Pronunciation

edit

Classifier

edit

pat

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) Alternative form of (pet6)

Etymology 2

edit

Pronunciation

edit

Noun

edit

pat

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) Alternative form of (pet1)

Chuj

edit

Noun

edit

pat

  1. house

Chuukese

edit

Adjective

edit

pat

  1. cold

Czech

edit

Pronunciation

edit

Etymology 1

edit

Via German Patt and French pat, from Italian patta.[1]

Noun

edit

pat m inan

  1. (chess) stalemate
  2. stalemate (blocked situation)
Declension
edit

Etymology 2

edit

Noun

edit

pat f

  1. genitive plural of pata

References

edit
  1. ^ Jiří Rejzek (2007) “pat”, in Český etymologický slovník (in Czech), Leda

Further reading

edit
  • pat in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
  • pat in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

Danish

edit

Pronunciation

edit

Noun

edit

pat c

  1. stalemate
  2. alternative form of patte (teat)

Verb

edit

pat

  1. imperative of patte (to suck)

Dutch

edit

Pronunciation

edit

Etymology 1

edit

Borrowed from French pat, from Italian patta.

Noun

edit

pat n (uncountable)

  1. (chess) tie, draw, stalemate
Derived terms
edit

Etymology 2

edit

Noun

edit

pat c (plural patten, diminutive patje n)

  1. (cycling) The slot in the frame that accepts the axle of the wheel; dropout.

Eskayan

edit

Numeral

edit

pat

  1. four

French

edit

Etymology

edit

Borrowed from Italian patta (tie, draw), influenced by mat (mate).

Pronunciation

edit

Noun

edit

pat m (plural pats)

  1. (chess) stalemate

Descendants

edit
  • German: Patt
  • Greek: πατ (pat)
  • Polish: pat
  • Serbo-Croatian: pat
  • Slovak: pat

Further reading

edit

Haitian Creole

edit

Pronunciation

edit

Etymology 1

edit

From French pâte.

Noun

edit

pat

  1. dough
  2. paste
  3. shoe polish
  4. toothpaste

Etymology 2

edit

Contraction

edit

pat

  1. Contraction of pa te.
    Li pat di m sa.She didn't tell me that.

References

edit
  • Targète, Jean and Urciolo, Raphael G. Haitian Creole-English dictionary (1993; →ISBN)

Hokkien

edit
For pronunciation and definitions of pat – see .
(This term is the pe̍h-ōe-jī form of ).

Icelandic

edit

Pronunciation

edit

Noun

edit

pat n (genitive singular pats, no plural)

  1. gesticulation, gesture

Declension

edit
edit

Anagrams

edit

Indonesian

edit

Numeral

edit

pat

  1. Clipping of empat.

Javanese

edit

Alternative forms

edit

Etymology

edit

From Old Javanese pat, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *əpat, from Proto-Austronesian *Səpat.

Numeral

edit

pat

  1. four

Krio

edit

Etymology

edit

From English part.

Noun

edit

pat

  1. part

Lamaholot

edit

Etymology

edit

From Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *əpat, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *əpat, from Proto-Austronesian *Səpat.

Numeral

edit

pat

  1. four

Latin

edit

Verb

edit

pāt

  1. third-person singular perfect active indicative of pāscō

Latvian

edit

Particle

edit

pat

  1. even

Lithuanian

edit

Etymology

edit

Probably derived from Proto-Indo-European *pótis (ruler; husband), taking an archaic meaning of "self", with semantic shift "self" > "same" > "very". Compare also Hittite [script needed] (-pat).[1]

Particle

edit

pàt (indeclinable)

  1. very, right (to emphasize location)
    čia patright here
    pat dugnofrom the very bottom
  2. very, right (to emphasize time)
    dabar patright now
    iki pat saulėlydžioright until sunset
  3. very, same (to emphasize sameness)
    tas pat žmogusthe very person
    tokia pat spalvathe same color (literally, “just such a color”)

References

edit
  1. ^ pat”, in Lietuvių kalbos etimologinio žodyno duomenų bazė [Lithuanian etymological dictionary database], 2007–2012

Further reading

edit
  • pat”, in Lietuvių kalbos žodynas [Dictionary of the Lithuanian language], lkz.lt, 1941–2024
  • pat”, in Dabartinės lietuvių kalbos žodynas [Dictionary of contemporary Lithuanian], ekalba.lt, 1954–2024

Livonian

edit

Etymology

edit

From Proto-Finnic *patto. Cognates include Estonian patt.

Pronunciation

edit

Noun

edit

pat

  1. sin

References

edit
  • Lauri Kettunen (1938) Livisches Wörterbuch mit grammatischer Einleitung, Helsinki, page 277

Maguindanao

edit

Etymology

edit

From Proto-Philippine *əpat, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *əpat, from Proto-Austronesian *Səpat.

Numeral

edit

pat

  1. four

Maia

edit

Noun

edit

pat

  1. stone

Malay

edit
Malay cardinal numbers
 <  3 4 5  > 
    Cardinal : pat

Alternative forms

edit

Etymology

edit

Shortened form of empat, from Proto-Malayic *əmpat, from Proto-Malayo-Chamic *əmpat, from Proto-Malayo-Sumbawan *əmpat, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *əpat, from Proto-Austronesian *Səpat.

Pronunciation

edit

Numeral

edit

pat (Jawi spelling ڤت)

  1. Alternative form of empat

Descendants

edit
  • Indonesian: pat

Manggarai

edit

Etymology

edit

From Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *əpat, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *əpat, from Proto-Austronesian *Səpat.

Numeral

edit

pat

  1. four

Maranao

edit
Maranao numbers (edit)
 ←  3 4 5  → 
    Cardinal: pat

Etymology

edit

Akin to Maguindanao upat.

Numeral

edit

pat

  1. four

Marshallese

edit

Etymology

edit

From Proto-Micronesian *pasa, from Proto-Oceanic *basa, an alternative form of Proto-Oceanic *pasa.

Pronunciation

edit

Noun

edit

pat

  1. swamp

References

edit

Murik (New Guinea)

edit

Numeral

edit

pat

  1. four

Old Javanese

edit

Etymology

edit

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *əpat, from Proto-Austronesian *Səpat.

Numeral

edit

pat

  1. four

Descendants

edit

Polish

edit
 
Polish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia pl

Etymology

edit

Borrowed from French pat, from Italian patta, probably from Latin pacta, plural of pactum.

Pronunciation

edit

Noun

edit

pat m animal (diminutive pacik)

  1. (chess) stalemate
  2. (figuratively, by extension) stalemate (any situation that has no obvious possible movement, but does not involve any personal loss)

Declension

edit

Derived terms

edit
adjective
verbs

Further reading

edit
  • pat in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • pat in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Puyuma

edit

Etymology

edit

From Proto-Austronesian *Səpat.

Numeral

edit

pat

  1. four

Rejang Kayan

edit

Etymology

edit

From Proto-North Sarawak *əpat, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *əpat, from Proto-Austronesian *Səpat.

Numeral

edit

pat

  1. four

Rembong

edit

Etymology

edit

From Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *əpat, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *əpat, from Proto-Austronesian *Səpat.

Numeral

edit

pat

  1. four

Romanian

edit

Etymology

edit

Often thought to be from Greek πάτος (pátos, path), but also possibly from Latin pactum (fastened, fixed, planted), with the loss of the -p- in the normal result, *papt, explicable through dissimilation from the initial consonant; compare păta, boteza. [1]

Pronunciation

edit

Noun

edit

pat n (plural paturi)

  1. bed

Declension

edit
edit

References

edit

References

edit

Serbo-Croatian

edit

Etymology

edit

Borrowed from French pat.

Pronunciation

edit
  This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!

Noun

edit

pat m (Cyrillic spelling пат)

  1. (chess) stalemate

Declension

edit

Slovak

edit

Etymology

edit

Borrowed from French pat.

Pronunciation

edit

Noun

edit

pat m inan (genitive singular patu, nominative plural paty, genitive plural patov, declension pattern of dub)

  1. (chess) stalemate

Declension

edit

Derived terms

edit

Further reading

edit
  • pat”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2024

Toba Batak

edit

Noun

edit

pat

  1. foot

References

edit
  • Warneck, J. (1906). Tobabataksch-Deutsches Wörterbuch. Batavia: Landsdrukkerij, p. 146.

Tocharian B

edit

Etymology

edit

From Sanskrit बुद्ध (buddha)

Noun

edit

pat

  1. stupa

Volapük

edit

Etymology

edit

From French particularité.

Noun

edit

pat (nominative plural pats)

  1. particularity

Declension

edit

Yucatec Maya

edit

Noun

edit

pat

  1. school shark

Noun

edit

pat

  1. cotton

References

edit