pat

Definition

The sound of a light slap or tap with a soft flat object, especially of a footstep.

Etymology

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.

Example Sentences

• "We heard a pat on the door."
• "Give Mary a pat on the shoulder to get her attention."
• "It looked like a tessellated work of pats of butter."