Advertisement

Origin and history of path

path(n.)

Old English paþ, pæþ "narrow passageway or route across land, a track worn by the feet of people or animals treading it," from West Germanic *patha- (source also of Old Frisian path, Middle Dutch pat, Dutch pad, Old High German pfad, German Pfad "path"), a word of uncertain origin, not attested in Old Norse or Gothic.

The original initial -p- in a Germanic word is an etymological puzzle. Don Ringe ("From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic," Oxford 2006), reflecting an old theory, describes it as "An obvious loan from Iranian ..., clearly borrowed after Grimm's Law had run its course." Watkins says the word is "probably borrowed (? via Scythian) from Iranian *path-," from PIE root *pent- "to tread, go, pass" (source of Avestan patha "way;" see find (v.)), but this is too much of a stretch for OED and others. In Scotland and Northern England, commonly a steep ascent of a hill or in a road.

Entries linking to path

find(v.)

Old English findan "come upon, meet with; discover; obtain by search or study" (class III strong verb; past tense fand, past participle funden), from Proto-Germanic *findan "to come upon, discover" (source also of Old Saxon findan, Old Frisian finda, Old Norse finna, Middle Dutch vinden, Old High German findan, German finden, Gothic finþan), originally "to come upon."

According to Watkins the Germanic word is from PIE root *pent- "to tread, go" (source also of Old High German fendeo "pedestrian;" Sanskrit panthah "path, way;" Avestan panta "way;" Greek pontos "open sea," patein "to tread, walk;" Latin pons (genitive pontis) "bridge;" Old Church Slavonic pǫti "path," pęta "heel;" Russian put' "path, way;" Armenian hun "ford," Old Prussian pintis "road"). The prehistoric sense development in Germanic would be from "to go" to "to find (out)," but Boutkan has serious doubts about this.

Germanic *-th- in English tends to become -d- after -n-. The change in the Germanic initial consonant is from Grimm's Law. To find out "to discover by scrutiny" is from 1550s (Middle English had a verb, outfinden, "to find out," c. 1300).

by-path(n.)

"side road," late 14c., from by + path.

Advertisement

More to explore

footpad
"highwayman who robs on foot," 1680s, from foot (n.) + pad "pathway, footpath" (1670s), from Middle Dutch pad "way, path," from Proto-Germanic *patha- "way, path" (see pad (v.1), and compare path). Pad was a cant word among thieves and vagabonds, in expressions such as stand pad
pad
1550s, "bundle of straw to lie on," a word of obscure origin (perhaps a merger of several separate words), possibly from or related to Low German or obsolete Flemish pad "sole of the foot," which is perhaps from PIE *pent- "to tread, go" (see find (v.)), but see path (n.). Sense
pathfinder
"one who discovers a way, an explorer or pioneer," 1839 (Cooper), from path + finder. "Pathfinder!" "So they call me, young woman, and many a great lord has got a title that he did not half so well merit; though, if truth be said, I rather pride myself in finding my way where
routine
more or less mechanical performance of certain acts or duties," 1670s, from French routine "usual course of action, beaten path..." (16c.), from route "way, path, course" (see route (n.)) + noun suffix -ine (see -ine (1))....
gait
c. 1300, gate "a going or walking, departure, journey," earlier "way, road, path" (c. 1200), from a Scandinavian source (...compare Old Norse gata "way, road, path"), from Proto-Germanic *gatwon "a going" (source also of Old High German gazza "street...
orbit
" from Old French orbite or directly from Medieval Latin orbita, a transferred use of Latin orbita "wheel track, beaten path...The astronomical sense of "circular or elliptical path of a planet or comet" (recorded in English from 1690s; later also...
cathode
," 1834, from Latinized form of Greek kathodos "a going down, a way down," from kata "down" (see cata-) + hodos "a way, path...So called from the path the electric current was supposed to take. Related: Cathodic; cathodal....
direction
late 14c., direccioun, "action of directing or guiding," from Latin directionem (nominative directio) "a making straight, a straight line, a directing (toward something)," noun of action from past-participle stem of dirigere "to set straight, arrange; give a particular direction
way
Old English weg "road, path; course of travel; room, space, freedom of movement;" also, figuratively, "course of life" especially, in plural, "habits of life" as regards moral, ethical, or spiritual choices, from Proto-Germanic *wega- "course of travel, way" (source also of Old S
main line
"principal line of a railway," 1841, from main (adj.) + line (n.). Meaning "affluent area of residence" is by 1917, originally (with capitals) that west of Philadelphia, from the "main line" of the Pennsylvania Railroad which added local stops to a string of backwater towns west

Share path

Advertisement
Trending
Dictionary entries near path
Advertisement