# pant

> English word · Noun · IPA /pænt/ · frequency rank #23,056

## Definitions
1. A quick breathing; a catching of the breath; a gasp: the panting of animals such as a dog with their tong hung out- as a form of thermoregulation.
2. Eager longing.
3. A violent palpitation of the heart.

## Etymology
From Middle English panten, whence also English dialectal pank.
Possibly from Old French pantoyer, a byform or of Old French pantoisier (“to be breathless”) (compare modern French panteler (“to gasp for breath”)), of uncertain origin. Possibly from Vulgar Latin *pantasiō (“struggling for breath when having a nightmare”), from Ancient Greek φαντασιόω (phantasióō, “I am subject to hallucinations”), from φαντασία (phantasía, “appearance, image, fantasy”).

## Easily confused with
- **pt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pant-vs-pt)
- **put** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pant-vs-put)
- **pay** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pant-vs-pay)
- **pet** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pant-vs-pet)
- **pot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pant-vs-pot)
- **pen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pant-vs-pen)
- **pin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pant-vs-pin)
- **pit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pant-vs-pit)
- **pat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pant-vs-pat)
- **par** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pant-vs-par)
- **pas** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pant-vs-pas)
- **pun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pant-vs-pun)
- **paw** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pant-vs-paw)
- **png** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pant-vs-png)
- **pax** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pant-vs-pax)
- **PST** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pant-vs-pst)
- **pap** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pant-vs-pap)
- **PCT** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pant-vs-pct)
- **Paz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pant-vs-paz)
- **pao** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pant-vs-pao)

## Common misspellings (6)
`apnt`, `pannt`, `pantt`, `patn`, `pnat`, `ppant`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/pant