padá n. (rarely m.) a step, pace, stride
a footstep, trace, vestige, mark, the foot itself, [RV.] &c. &c. (padena, on foot; pade pade, at every step, everywhere, on every occasion; trīṇi padāni viṣṇoḥ, the three steps or footprints of Viṣṇu [i.e. the earth, the air, and the sky; cf. [RV. i, 154, 5]; [Vikr. i, 19]], also N. of a constellation or according to some ‘the space between the eyebrows’; sg. viṣṇoḥ padam N. of a locality; padaṃ-√ dā, padāt padaṃ-√ gam or √ cal, to make a step, move on; padaṃ-√ kṛ, with loc. to set foot in or on, to enter; with mūrdhni, to set the foot upon the head of [gen.] i.e. overcome; with citte or hṛdaye, to take possession of any one's heart or mind; with loc. or prati, to have dealings with; padaṃ ni-√ dhā with loc., to set foot in = to make impression upon; with padavyām, to set the foot on a person's [gen. or ibc.] track, to emulate or equal; padam ni-√ bandh with loc., to enter or engage in)
a sign, token, characteristic, [MBh.]; [Kathās.]; [Pur.]
a footing, standpoint
position, rank, station, site, abode, home, [RV.] &c. &c. (padam ā-√ tan, to spread or extend one's position; padāt padam bhrāmayitvā, having caused to wander from place to place)
a business affair, matter, object or cause of (gen. or comp.), [Kāv.]; [Pañc.] &c.
a pretext, [L.]
a part, portion, division (cf. dvi-, tri-)
a square on a chess-board, [R.]
a plot of ground, [Inscr.]
the foot as a measure of length (= 12 or 15 fingers' breadth, or 1/2 or 1/3 or 3/7 of a Prakrama), [KātyŚr.]
a ray of light (m., [L.])
a portion of a verse, quarter or line of a stanza, [RV.] &c. &c.
a word or an inflected word or the stem of a noun in the middle cases and before some Taddhitas, [Pāṇ. i, 4, 14] &c.
= pada-pāṭha, [Prāt.]
common N. of the P. and Ā. [Cat.]
any one in a set of numbers the sum of which is required
a period in an arithmetical progression, [Col.]
a square root, [Sūryas.]
a quadrant, [ib.]
protection, [L.]
[cf. Gk. πέδον; Lat. peda; op-pidum for op-pedum.]