pat
Exactly suitable, fitting, aptExactly suitable, fitting, apt; timely, convenient, opportune, ready for the occasion; especially of things spoken.
Recorded UK: Speaker: Vealhurl Recorder: Vealhurl, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons · Recorded US: Dvortygirl, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Translations
1 languagesMeaning
3 sensesExactly suitable, fitting, apt; timely, convenient, opportune, ready for the occasion; especially of things spoken.
a pat expression
Trite, being superficially complete, lacking originality.
(slang)Upper-class, nobby.
- having only superficial plausibility
- exactly suited to the occasion
Origin
From Middle English *patten, alteration (with loss of medial l) of platten, pletten (“to pFrom Middle English *patten, alteration (with loss of medial l) of platten, pletten (“to pat”), from Old English plættan (“to buffet, strike, slap, smack, give a sounding blow”), from Proto-West Germanic *plattjan, from Proto-Germanic *plat- (“to strike, beat”), from Proto-Indo-European *blod-, *bled- (“to strike, beat”). Cognate with Middle Dutch platten, pletten (“to strike, bruise, crush, rub”), German platzen (“to split, burst, break up”), Bavarian patzen (“to pat”), Swedish plätta, pjätta (“to pat, tap”). For loss of l, compare patch for platch; pate for plate, etc. See plat.
Clipping of patrician.
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Forms
more pat, most patSynonyms
25 synonymsWord family
5 related wordsLessons for this word
2 lessons- A2Comparatives — Because it has a comparative form
- A2Superlatives — Because it has a superlative form
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.