"P" Word Origins

pa

Origin

A clipped, childlike form of "papa."

paan

Hindi

Borrowed from Hindi "paan."

Pablo

Latin

From Spanish, derived from Latin "Paulus," the same root as the English name Paul.

pablum

Origin

A variant of Pablum, the name of a food supplement for malnourished infants developed in 1931 by the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and Mead Johnson & Company, probably a shortening of Latin pābulum (“fodder for animals; food, nourishment”), from pā(scō) (“to feed, nourish; to drive to pasture; to support; to tend”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂- (“to protect, ward; to shepherd”)) + -bulum (suffix denoting an instrument) (from Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlom (a variant of *-trom (suffix denoting an instrument or tool))), or directly from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂-dʰlom (from *peh₂- + *-dʰlom). The name was trademarked in the United States in 1932.

Pac

Spanish

Traced to several unrelated sources, including Polish and Czech short forms of personal names, and a Spanish or Mayan-influenced surname.

pacate

Origin

From Latin pācātus, perfect passive participle of pācō (“to make peaceful, pacify”), from pāx (“peace”).

pace

Latin

From Old French "pas," from Latin "passus" ("step, stride") — the same root that gives us "pass" and "passage."

pacemaker

Origin

A compound of "pace" and "maker," originally describing the natural pacemaker cells of the heart before being applied to the medical device.

pacer

Origin

From "pace" plus the agent suffix "-er."

pacesetter

Origin

From pace + setter.

pacey

Origin

From "pace" plus the adjective-forming suffix "-y."

pachinko

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese, based on the onomatopoeic sound the machines make.

pachyderm

Origin

Borrowed from French pachyderme, equivalent to pachy- (“thick”) + -derm (“skin”).

pacific

Latin

From French "pacifique," ultimately from Latin roots meaning "peace-making."

pacification

Origin

From Middle English pacificacion, from Old French pacification.

pacifier

Origin

From "pacify" plus the agent suffix "-er."

pacifism

Origin

From French pacifisme, from pacifique; pacific + -ism.

pacifist

French

From French "pacifiste," built from "pacific" plus "-ist."

pacify

Latin

From Latin "pax" ("peace") and "facere" ("to make") — literally "to make peace."

Pacino

Italian

Borrowed from Italian Pacino.

pack

Middle English

From Middle English "pak/pakke," related to Middle Dutch "pak" and German "Pack," all going back to a shared Germanic root meaning "bundle."

package

Origin

From "pack" plus the noun-forming suffix "-age."

packaging

Origin

From "package" plus "-ing."

Packard

Origin

Genealogy websites offer three or four hypotheses about the surname; none is confirmed. (Ideas include possible cognation with packer or with Pickard; evidence for or against is not presented.) The automotive brand is from the surname, via the brothers James Ward Packard and William Doud Packard. The ghost town in Kentucky, is named after a certain Amelia Packard.

Packer

Middle English

From Middle English pakker, pakkere, packare, equivalent to pack + -er.

packet

French

From French paquet, a diminutive form of pack — literally "a little pack."

packing

Origin

From Middle English pakkynge; equivalent to pack (“verb and noun senses”) + -ing.

packman

Origin

From pack + -man.

packsack

Origin

From pack + sack.

paco

Spanish

From Spanish paco, itself borrowed from Quechua, the language of the Andes where the animal is native.

pact

Latin

From Latin pactum, "something agreed upon," from the verb pacisci, "to agree."

pacu

Origin

From Portuguese pacu, from Old Tupi paku.

pad

Origin

1554, "bundle of straw to lie on". Unknown, and unclear all senses have common etymology. For sense "ends of a digit", cf. Low German or West Flemish pad (“sole of the foot”), perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pent- (“to pass”), which would make it related to both path and find.

padawan

Origin · 1999

Invented by George Lucas for the Star Wars franchise; the term first appeared in his early manuscripts in the 1970s before reaching cinemas in 1999.

padding

Origin

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Paddington

Origin

From the Old English personal name Padda + -ing (“belonging to”) + tūn (“enclosure; settlement, town”).

paddle

Middle English

Partly from an old verb meaning "to splash or dabble," and partly from a Middle English word for a small spade-like tool.

paddling

Origin

From paddle + -ing.

paddock

Origin

Likely a variant of an old British dialect word for a small enclosed field, ultimately related to "park."

paddy

Malay

From the Malay word for the rice plant, padi.

Padilla

Spanish

Borrowed from Spanish Padilla.

padlock

Origin

From earlier pad lock (19th c.); Middle English padlock, padlokke, from pad-, of unknown origin, + lok (“lock”). Perhaps originally a lock for a pad (“gate”), or a gate opening to a path, or a lock for a basket or pannier, from UK dialect pad (“a pannier”).

padma

Sanskrit

From Sanskrit पद्म (padma), meaning "lotus".

padre

Latin

Borrowed from Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese padre ("priest" or "father"), from Latin pater ("father").

Padua

Latin

From Medieval Latin Padua, from Venetan Padoa, from Latin Patavium.

paean

Origin

From Latin paeān (“a hymn, especially a victory hymn, to Apollo or another god”), from Ancient Greek παιᾱ́ν (paiā́n, “a chant or song, especially a thanksgiving or victory hymn, to Apollo under the name Παιᾱ́ν (Paiā́n)”), from the phrase Ἰὼ Παιᾱ́ν (Iṑ Paiā́n, “O Paean!, Thanks to Paean!”). According to Homer, Paián or Paean was the name of the physician of the gods; its further etymology is unclear. It has been suggested that Παιᾱ́ν is derived from *παιάϝων (*paiáwōn, “one who heals illnesses through magic”), from *παῖϝα (*paîwa), *παϝία (*pawía, “to blow”), related to παίω (paíō, “to hit, strike”) (from Proto-Indo-European *pēu-, *pyu-, *pū- (“to hit; to cut”)), or from παύω (paúō, “to bring to an end; to abate, to stop”) (from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- (“few, little; smallness”)), or that it may be a Pre-Greek word. Compare Middle French and French pæan (also French péan), Italian peana, Portuguese peã, péan.

paella

Latin

From Catalan paella, meaning "pan," ultimately from Latin patella ("small pan or plate").

pagan

Latin

From Latin paganus, originally meaning "rural" or "civilian." Early Christians used it to describe country-dwellers who kept older, non-Christian beliefs.