Etymograph

English

pada

Pada comes from Sanskrit पद ‘step, pace, stride’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ped-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ped-1‘to walk, to step’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ped-óm1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Indo-Iranianc. 2500–1800 BCE*padám1reconstructed
  4. Proto-Indo-Aryanprehistoric (reconstructed)*padám1reconstructed
  5. Sanskritc. 1500–500 BCEपद2pada‘step, pace, stride’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1997pada2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Sanskrit पद
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English pada
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1997, Kiran Nagarkar, Cuckold: “There were quatrains and broken verses and entire poems.…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ped-Wiktionary, Sanskrit पद‘to walk, to step’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ped-ómWiktionary, Sanskrit पदreconstructed
  3. Proto-Indo-Iranianc. 2500–1800 BCE*padámWiktionary, Sanskrit पदreconstructed
  4. Proto-Indo-Aryanprehistoric (reconstructed)*padámWiktionary, Sanskrit पदreconstructed
  5. Sanskritc. 1500–500 BCEपदWiktionary, English padapada‘step, pace, stride’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1997padaWiktionary, English pada. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1997, Kiran Nagarkar, Cuckold: “There were quatrains and broken verses and entire poems.…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ped- ‘to walk, to step’

feet, foot, pilot, pie, expedition, pioneer, pedestrian, fetch, podium, impeachment, pew, pedigree, pedal, impede, pawn, pug, expedite, impediment, pes, baht, ped, centipede, fet, pedicure, petiole, peon, pedometer, puy, fetter, pedicel, pedicle, poy, tripos, biped, quadruped, 50 more

Today it means

noun The basic metric unit of Vedic poetry, consisting of one line of verse in Sanskrit, typically as part of a four-line stanza.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “pada”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Sanskrit पद. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ped- / pada

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