Meaning

noun the noise made by a short puff of steam (as from an engine)

noun (usually in the plural) a garment extending from the waist to the knee or ankle, covering each leg separately

noun a short labored intake of breath with the mouth open

originFrom Middle English panten, whence also English dialectal pank. Possibly from Old French pantoyer, a byform or of Old French pantoisier (“to be breathless”) (compare modern French panteler (“to gasp for breath”)), of uncertain origin. Possibly from Vulgar Latin *pantasiō (“struggling for breath when having a nightmare”), from Ancient Greek φαντασιόω (phantasióō, “to be subject to…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0