PAT
Abbreviation with 6 meanings
| Stands for | Point after touchdown |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 6 |
| Categories | Sports, Medical, Technology & Computing, Business & Finance |
PAT has six meanings. The most common are Point after touchdown (American football) and Pediatric assessment triangle (emergency medicine); it can also stand for Preadmission testing, Personal access token, Port address translation and Profit after tax.
Meanings of PAT at a glance
| # | PAT stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Point after touchdown | Sports › American Football |
| 2 | Pediatric assessment triangle | Medical › Emergency Medicine |
| 3 | Preadmission testing | Medical › Surgical |
| 4 | Personal access token | Technology & Computing › Programming |
| 5 | Port address translation | Technology & Computing › Networking |
| 6 | Profit after tax | Business & Finance › Accounting |
1. Point after touchdown
Sports · American Football Abbreviations
Try to add a point after a touchdown by kicking the ball through the uprights, also called the extra point or conversion. In the NFL the kick is snapped from the 15-yard line, making it a 33-yard attempt.
Example: The PAT was blocked, leaving the Bears trailing 20-19 with two minutes left.
The NFL moved the snap from the 2-yard line to the 15 in 2015, turning a near-automatic kick into one missed several times a week. A two-point try is still snapped from the 2. "PAT" usually refers to the kick, although officially it covers any try after a touchdown.
2. Pediatric assessment triangle
Medical · Emergency Medicine Abbreviations
Rapid "across the room" assessment of a child using three components: appearance, work of breathing and circulation to the skin. It identifies sick children in seconds before hands-on assessment.
Example: PAT: appearance abnormal, increased WOB, pale; respiratory failure suspected.
Promoted by the American Academy of Pediatrics in pediatric emergency courses. Appearance is often assessed with the TICLS mnemonic: tone, interactiveness, consolability, look or gaze, and speech or cry. In laboratory medicine PAT can refer to other tests, and in finance it is unrelated.
3. Preadmission testing
Medical · Surgical Abbreviations
Hospital clinic or process in which patients scheduled for surgery have their history reviewed, receive instructions and complete required tests such as blood work, an ECG or a pregnancy test days before the operation. It reduces day-of-surgery cancellations and delays.
Example: PAT appointment Tuesday at 9: bring your medication list and insurance card.
Some centers combine PAT with the anesthesia evaluation, while healthy patients may be screened by phone. Testing follows institutional protocols and the patient's risk rather than a fixed list. In older cardiology terminology PAT meant paroxysmal atrial tachycardia.
4. Personal access token
Technology & Computing · Programming Abbreviations
A long, randomly generated string that replaces a password when authenticating scripts, command-line tools and API calls to services such as GitHub, GitLab and Azure DevOps. Tokens can be limited to specific permissions and expiration dates.
Example: Git push failed after GitHub dropped password auth, so create a PAT with repo scope.
GitHub stopped accepting account passwords for Git operations in August 2021, making tokens or SSH keys mandatory. Fine-grained tokens restrict access to particular repositories. Tokens accidentally committed to public repositories are a common incident, so platforms scan for and revoke them automatically. In networking PAT means port address translation.
5. Port address translation
Technology & Computing · Networking Abbreviations
The most common form of NAT, in which many private devices share one public IP address and the router keeps their connections apart by rewriting source port numbers. Nearly every home router performs PAT on every outgoing connection.
Example: Configure PAT on the outside interface so the whole branch shares a single public address.
Also called NAPT (network address and port translation) or "NAT overload" in Cisco terminology. One public address can support tens of thousands of simultaneous connections because each uses a different port. In developer tools PAT means personal access token, an authentication credential; router configuration context indicates the networking meaning.
6. Profit after tax
Business & Finance · Accounting Abbreviations
Net profit remaining after all expenses, interest and income tax have been deducted, available for dividends or retention. The term is standard in Indian, UK, South African and Southeast Asian financial reporting, equivalent to net income in the United States.
Example: PAT grew 18 percent year on year to ₹2,340 crore on strong loan growth.
Indian companies and media routinely quote PAT in crore rupees. Earnings per share is calculated from PAT attributable to ordinary shareholders. In the UK, PAT also means portable appliance testing, an unrelated electrical-safety check.
Related abbreviations
More American football abbreviations
- OT – Offensive tackle
- OTA – Organized team activities
- P – Punter
- PA – Play-action
- PD – Passes defensed
- PF – Personal foul (basketball)
- PI – Pass interference
- PPR – Points per reception
See all 80 American football abbreviations →
More emergency medicine abbreviations
- OHCA – Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest
- OPA – Oropharyngeal airway
- PALS – Pediatric Advanced Life Support
- PASG – Pneumatic anti-shock garment
- PCR – Patient care report
- PEARS – Pediatric Emergency Assessment, Recognition and Stabilization
- PECARN – Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network
- PEM – Pediatric emergency medicine
See all 97 emergency medicine abbreviations →
This entry is for general education and is not medical advice. Abbreviation use varies between institutions; always confirm in context.