Etymology Dictionary

PAD (1),  a soft cushion, &c.  (Scand.? or C.?)   'He was kept in the bands, hauing under him but onely a pad of straw;' Fox, Martyrs, p. 854 (R.)   Spelt padde, Gascoigne, Fruits of War, st. 177.   A stuffed saddle was called a pad; hence:  'Padde, saddle,' in Levins, ed. 1570.   It also occurs in the sense of 'bundle;' see Halliwell.   It is merely another form of pod, the orig. sense being 'bag.'   Pod is the better spelling, as the o represents an older u.   See Pod.   Der. pad, verb; padd-ing.

PAD (2),  a thief on the high road.  (Du.)   We now speak of a foot-pad.   The old word is a padder, Massinger, A New Way, ii. I, l. 15 from end; Butler, Hudibras, pt. iii. c. I. l. 5 from end.   This means 'one who goes upon the pad or foot-path.'   A pad is also a 'roadster,' a horse for riding on roads; Gay's Fables, no. 46; also (more correctly) called a pad-nag, i.e. 'road-horse' (R.)—Du. pad, a path; O. Du. padt (Hexham); cf. Low G. pad.   Cognate with E. path; see Path.   ➩ Many cant words are of Du. origin; see Beaum. and Fletcher, Beggar's Bush.   Der. pad, v., to tramp along.

ADDENDA

PAD (2).   In Harman's Caveat, 1567, p. 84, we find hygh pad = highway.   An example of pad in the same sense (in Ben Jonson) is given under Cant (1).