Meaning

noun a clawed foot of an animal especially a quadruped

noun the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb

verb scrape with the paws

originFrom Middle English pawe, from Old French poue, poe, from Vulgar Latin *pauta. Further origin unknown, perhaps from Frankish *pōta, from Frankish *pōtōn (“to put, stick, plant”), from Proto-Germanic *putōną, whence also Old English potian (“to push”), pȳtan (“to put out, poke out”). See more at put. Doublet of pote, put, and putt. Cognate with Dutch poot, poten (“to plant”), Low German Pote,…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0