PAD  . (1) Probably from the same

root as " pod," the husk or seed-covering in certain plants,.a term used in various connexions, the sense being derived from that of a soft cushion, or cushion-like combination used either for protective purposes or as stuffing or stiffening . In zoology, it is particularly used of the fleshy elastic protuberances on the sole of the foot of many animals such as the cat and dog, the camel, &c.; and of the similar cushion beneath the toes of a bird's foot or of the tarsal cushion of an insect . In sporting phraseology the whole paw of a fox or other beast of chase is called the " pad." A special technical use, somewhat difficult to connect with the above meanings, is for the socket 'of a brace or for the handle of such tools as a key-hole saw . (2) The canting word " pad," now surviving in such words as " footpad," a highway robber, or " pad horse," a roadster riding-horse with an easy action, is the same as " path," adapted directly from the Low Ger. form pad, a track or road . (3) There is an old English dialect word for a frog (Scottish and North) or a toad, more familiar in the diminutive " paddock " (cf . Hamlet, iii . 4, 189; Macbeth, i . 1, 9) . This is found in many Teutonic languages, cf . Dan. padde, Du. pad, &c . The diminutive is to be distinguished from " paddock," a small enclosed plot of pasture land, an altered form of " parrock," O .

Eng. pearroc .