toad
TOHD · noun
Origin
Toad comes from Middle English tode, toode, tadde, or tade, which traces back to Old English *tāde, itself a shortened form of tādie or tādiġe.
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Journey
From Old English onward it seems to have simply meant the same warty, hopping creature it does today.
Related words
It's cognate with Scots tade, taid, taed, or ted, and possibly shares a prehistoric root with Danish tudse and Swedish tåssa or tossa — though Old English also had two other, seemingly unrelated words for the same animal, tāxe and tosca.