Occasionally since circa 1800 from Low German paddeln (“to scurry, tottle, dabble, splash, twitch”), frequentative of padden, padjen (“to step, scurry, walk in shallow water”). Probably from a variant of Middle Low German pedden (“to tread, tramp”), cognate with Dutch pedden, Old English pæþþan, which are considered derivatives of Proto-Germanic *paþaz (“path”); compare also Old High German phadōn. In this case, English pad (“to travel”) and paddle (“to walk in shallow water”) must be Low German borrowings.
In the late 19th century, the (Low) German word was merged with English paddle (“to propel a canoe”) and spread in the standard language chiefly in this sense, but with certain remnants of the native meaning. English paddle (“kind of oar”) is from a Latin noun, probably influenced by the verb mentioned above. See the lemma.
paddeln (weak, third-person singular present paddelt, past tense paddelte, past participle gepaddelt, auxiliary sein)
| infinitive | paddeln | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| present participle | paddelnd | ||||
| past participle | gepaddelt | ||||
| auxiliary | sein | ||||
| indicative | subjunctive | ||||
| singular | plural | singular | plural | ||
| present | ich paddle ich paddele ich paddel |
wir paddeln | i | ich paddele ich paddle |
wir paddeln |
| du paddelst | ihr paddelt | du paddelest du paddlest |
ihr paddelet ihr paddlet | ||
| er paddelt | sie paddeln | er paddele er paddle |
sie paddeln | ||
| preterite | ich paddelte | wir paddelten | ii | ich paddelte1 | wir paddelten1 |
| du paddeltest | ihr paddeltet | du paddeltest1 | ihr paddeltet1 | ||
| er paddelte | sie paddelten | er paddelte1 | sie paddelten1 | ||
| imperative | paddle (du) paddel (du) paddele (du) |
paddelt (ihr) | |||
1Rare except in very formal contexts; alternative in würde normally preferred.
paddeln