Meaning

noun any of various tailless stout-bodied amphibians with long hind limbs for leaping; semiaquatic and terrestrial species

originFrom Middle English tode, toode, tadde, tade, from Old English *tāde, a shortened variant of Old English tādie, tādiġe (“toad”). Cognate with Scots tade, taid, taed, ted (“toad”). Compare also Danish tudse (“toad”), possibly originally from the same prehistoric root; also Swedish tåssa, tossa (“toad”), Old English tāxe (“toad”), Old English tosca (“toad”) by contrast.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0