pad [M16th] A word of unknown origin, although the sense ‘underpart of an animal’s foot’ may be related to Low German pad ‘sole of the foot. The first recorded sense was ‘bundle of straw to lie on’ which developed into a slang term for a bed in the early 18th century. By the 20th century this had become underworld slang for a place to take drugs or where a prostitute worked. This moved up in the world in the 1970s to become a general term for a place to live. Pad as in notepad, [M19th] may not be from the same source. The verb meaning ‘to tread, walk’ came into English in the 16th century from Low German padden, which may have come from the sound made. It was originally underworld slang, and is also the source of footpad [L17th]. Padden could also mean ‘to wade’, hence to paddle [M16th]. The other sense of paddle, ‘oar’ is found from the 15th century in the sense of a small spade-like implement and is also of unknown origin.