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patten

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patten¹

  • /ˈpat(ə)n/ UK
  • /ˈpæt(ə)n/ US

Sounds like paten, Patton, pattern (non-rhotic)

Where it comes from

From Middle English patyn, patin, pateyn, from Old French patin, from patte (“paw, hoof”), from Latin patta, of imitative origin.

noun pattens

  1. Any of various types of footwear with thick soles, often used to elevate the foot, especially wooden clogs. I went and told part of the excise money till twelve o’clock, and then called on my wife and took her to Mr. Pierces, she in the way being exceedingly troubled with a pair of new pattens, and I vexed to go so slow, it being late.
  2. historical One of various wooden attachments used to lift a shoe above wet or muddy ground. They presented the most extraordinary and comic aspect imaginable, with their shaven heads and long beard; (the heads of all Mussulmen are shaved quite bare, with the exception of a tuft on the very top, which is left for the angel of the tomb on the day of judgment, say they, to grasp and carry the
  3. obsolete A circular wooden plank attached to a horse's foot to prevent it from sinking into a bog while plowing. At and in the neighbourhood of North Meoks, near Ormskirk in Lancashire, there is a whole country of peat, and how deep this soil is God only knows, for the horses which plough thereon wear pattens to keep them from sinking to the bellies: here I was not long ago deluded, by my ignorance of the coun
  4. UK, dialectal An ice skate.
  5. historical An iron hoop attached to a person's boot in cases of hip-joint disease.
  6. The base of a pillar.

verb pattens · pattening · pattened

  1. intransitive To go about wearing pattens.

patten²

Where it comes from

Variant forms.

noun pattens

  1. obsolete Obsolete form of paten

Patten³

proper noun Pattens

  1. countable, uncountable A surname.
  2. countable, uncountable An unincorporated community in Thomas County, Georgia, United States.
  3. countable, uncountable A town, village, and census-designated place therein, in Penobscot County, Maine, United States.

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MLA

"patten." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/patten. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

patten. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/patten

Chicago

"patten." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/patten.

BibTeX
@misc{patten_2026,
  title = {patten},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/patten},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}