Paddy

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈpædi/

Definitions

1. The grain of rice before it is husked ; a wet field where rice is grown ; a derogatory term for a person of Irish descent
2. Rice in its natural state before processing ; a flooded plot used for cultivating rice ; a disparaging name used to describe someone from Ireland
3. Unprocessed rice including the husk ; a cultivated wetland for rice farming ; a pejorative label aimed at an Irish individual

Etymology: Rice came to English through Malay. "Padi" was the Malay word for the rice plant, and English borrowed it in the sense of the grain before it is husked, as well as the flooded field where rice grows. The related English word "palay", meaning unhusked rice, comes from the same source by a different route, which makes the two a doublet. The word's most famous use is also its most troubling. As a nickname for an Irishman, "Paddy" derives from the personal name Patrick, and it became a derogatory term for people of Irish descent. Whether that nickname is the source of the rice word is doubtful: the two are unrelated in origin, and the rice sense came from Malay. Another English dialect word, "paddy", meaning worm-eaten, is also listed as a separate source, though it has no clear link to the rice sense.

Synonyms: rice field, wet rice field, paddy field, rice paddy