Meaning

noun a mixture of wet clay and sand that can be used to line a pond and that is impervious to water when dry

noun a small body of standing water (rainwater) or other liquid

noun something resembling a pool of liquid

originFrom Middle English podel, diminutive of Old English pudd (“ditch”), from Proto-Germanic *puddaz (compare Low German Pudel (“puddle”), Middle High German podel (“quagmire, mudhole”), Hunsrik Puttel, dialectal German Pfudel (“puddle”), German pudeln (“to splash about”)), ultimately imitative.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0