# pat

> English word · Noun · IPA /pæt/ · frequency rank #4,785

## Definitions
1. The sound of a light slap or tap with a soft flat object, especially of a footstep.
2. A light tap or slap, especially with the hands.
3. A flattish lump of soft matter, especially butter or dung.

## Etymology
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.

## Easily confused with
- **PM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pat-vs-pm)
- **PC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pat-vs-pc)
- **PP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pat-vs-pp)
- **PR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pat-vs-pr)
- **pt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pat-vs-pt)
- **PS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pat-vs-ps)
- **po** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pat-vs-po)
- **pi** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pat-vs-pi)
- **PG** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pat-vs-pg)
- **PL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pat-vs-pl)
- **PE** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pat-vs-pe)
- **PD** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pat-vs-pd)
- **PB** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pat-vs-pb)
- **PF** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pat-vs-pf)
- **PU** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pat-vs-pu)
- **PK** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pat-vs-pk)
- **PV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pat-vs-pv)
- **PJ** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pat-vs-pj)
- **PW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pat-vs-pw)
- **PX** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pat-vs-px)

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