Patte

Patte is a French noun that refers to the paw, foot, or leg of an animal. It is commonly used for the soft, padded limb of mammals such as cats, dogs, and bears, as well as for the feet or legs of birds and other animals in everyday language. The plural form is pattes, as in les pattes d’un chat or les pattes d’un oiseau. In anatomical or veterinary contexts, patte denotes the limb as a unit, with qualifiers like patte avant (foreleg) and patte arrière (hind leg) when necessary.

Etymology traces patte to Old French patte, related to the broader Romance-language vocabulary for foot or paw. In French, the term is widely used in natural history, pet care, and rural speech, and it often appears in nature writing and colloquial descriptions of animals. The concept of a patte can also informally extend to the appearance or movement of an animal’s limb in literature and conversation.

Patte should not be confused with pâté, the separate word for a meat paste. While they are homophones in some accents, they have distinct meanings and spellings. In translation, patte is typically rendered as paw or leg, depending on the animal and the context.