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PlainSpell

pat

/pæt/noun, verb, adjective, adverb

pat is spelled P-A-T: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 17 times per million words in written English, the 4,752nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, pat means “The sound of a light slap or tap with a soft flat object, especially of a footstep” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of pat is pats.

How many letters and syllables are in pat?

Letters3: P-A-T
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing17 times per million words; the 4,752nd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is pat?

Pat appears 17 times per million words in written English, the 4,752nd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce pat?

  • /pæt/
  • [pʰæt]
  • [pʰæt̚]

Pat has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-pat.wav, En-us-pat.ogg, En-au-pat.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with pat?

No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as pat.

Spelled with the same letters in another order: tap, apt, pta.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of pat

  • pats plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • patting participle, present
  • patted participle, past
  • more pat comparative
  • most pat superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does pat mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 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. 2

    A light tap or slap, especially with the hands.

    Give Mary a pat on the shoulder to get her attention.

  3. 3

    A flattish lump of soft matter, especially butter or dung.

  4. 4

    Clipping of patent.

  5. 5

    Clipping of pattern.

verb

  1. 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. 2

    To hit lightly and repeatedly with the flat of the hand to make smooth or flat

    I patted the cookie dough into shape.

  3. 3

    AustraliaUKTo stroke or fondle (an animal). Compare pet.

    Do you want to pat the cat?

  4. 4

    To gently rain.

adjective

  1. 1

    Exactly suitable, fitting, apt; timely, convenient, opportune, ready for the occasion; especially of things spoken.

    a pat expression

  2. 2

    Trite, being superficially complete, lacking originality.

  3. 3

    slangUpper-class, nobby.

adverb

  1. 1

    Opportunely, in a timely or suitable way.

  2. 2

    Perfectly.

    He has the routine down pat.

  3. 3

    Straight, right, exactly, precisely.

noun

as Pat
  1. 1

    offensiveslangAn Irish person.

noun

as PAT
  1. 1

    Initialism of point after touchdown (“extra point”).

  2. 2

    Initialism of provincial achievement test.

  3. 3

    AustraliaIrelandUKInitialism of portable appliance testing.

  4. 4

    Initialism of port address translation.

  5. 5

    Initialism of protocol associated type.

  6. 6

    Initialism of personal access token.

  7. 7

    Initialism of paroxysmal atrial tachycardia.

  8. 8

    USInitialism of priority air traffic.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Pat in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
GermanTapser (sound of a light slap or tap), Klaps (light tap or slap), Flatschen, Fladen, Flädchen, Portion (flattish lump of soft matter)
Portuguesebatidinha, estalo (sound of a light slap or tap), tapinha (light tap or slap), dar um tapinha (to tap gently)
Frenchtape (light tap or slap), motte, bouse (flattish lump of soft matter), tapoter (to tap gently), ad-hoc (exactly suitable), bateau (trite)
Spanishpalmada, palmazo, apapacho, apapuche, palmadita (light tap or slap), dar una palmadita (to tap gently)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does pat come from?

From Middle English pat (“a blow, stroke”), alteration (with loss of medial l) of *plat (> Scots plat (“a blow, buffet”)), from Old English plætt (“a sounding blow, a smack”), from Proto-West Germanic *platt (“a smack, slap, blow”), from Proto-Germanic *plat- (“to strike, beat”), from Proto-Indo-European *blod-, *bled- (“to strike, beat”). Cognate with Middle Dutch plat (“a smack, blow, slap”), Middle Low German plat (“a smack, blow, beating”), Middle High German plaz, blaz (“a resounding blow, bang, crash”). For loss of l, compare patch for platch; pate for plate, etc. See plat.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after pat