Pate
/peɪt/noun
The top or crown of the head.
Did you know?English pate is a direct descendant of a Latin word for the head, and it survives today in phrases like “bald pate,” where the word still carries its old crown-of-the-head sense.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*kaput-
“head”
Latin
Latin
caput
“head”
Late Latin
Latin
patta
“head; top of the head”
Old French
Old French
patte
“head; pate, crown of the head”
Middle English
English
pate
“the head, especially the top of the head”
Modern English
English
pate
“the top or crown of the head”