patrol

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   The act of moving around an area regularly to keep it safe and watch for trouble.

   Police officers are on patrol in the city centre every night.

2. 2
   verb

   To move around an area regularly in order to guard it and keep it safe.

   Soldiers patrolled the border throughout the night.

3. 3
   noun

   A group of people, soldiers, or vehicles sent to guard or check an area.

   A patrol of four soldiers searched the village.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Patrol entered English in the mid-17th century through German from French patrouille. This comes from patrouiller, “to paddle in mud,” formed from patte, “paw,” and the dialect word (gad)rouille, “dirty water.”

From French patrouille, from Old French patrouille, patouille (“a night-watch”, literally “a tramping about”), from patrouiller, patouiller, patoiller (“to paddle or pudder in water, dabble with the feet, begrime, besmear”), from patte, pate (“paw, foot of an animal”), from Vulgar Latin *patta (“paw, foot”), from Frankish *patta (“paw, sole of the foot”), from Proto-Germanic *paþjaną, *paþōną (“to walk, tread, go, step, pace”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pent-, *(s)pat- (“path; to walk”), a variant of Proto-Indo-European *pent-, *pat- (“path; to go”); see find. Cognate with Dutch pa…

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External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary