path
A way or track laid down for walking; a route or course.
Etymology
From Old English pæþ, from Proto-Germanic *paþaz, from PIE *pent- "to tread, to walk." The PIE root captures the act of walking itself — a path is literally "a place that has been trodden." The same root gives Latin pōns (bridge, originally "way across") and Greek póntos (sea, the "crossing").
The Journey: *pent- → path
*pent-
*paþaz
pæþ
path, pæth
path
Cognates Across Languages
These words in other languages descend from the same PIE root *pent-. They are not borrowings but independent inheritances from a common ancestor.
| Language | Word |
|---|---|
| Dutch | pad |
| Greek | póntos (sea) |
| Latin | pōns (bridge) |
| German | Pfad |
| Old Norse | paðr (path, trail) |
Did You Know?
Greek póntos "sea" and English "path" share the same PIE root *pent- "to tread." The Greeks saw the sea as a crossing, a path between lands — so the word for walking became the word for the deep ocean.
This word descends from the Proto-Indo-European root *pent-. See the full root page for descendant trees, sound law references, and scholarly discussion.