palimony Look up palimony at Dictionary.com
1979, coined from pal + (al)imony. Popularized, if not introduced, during lawsuit against U.S. film star Lee Marvin.
palimpsest Look up palimpsest at Dictionary.com
"parchment from which earlier writing has been removed to clear it for new writing," 1661, from L. palimpsestus, from Gk. palimpsestos "scraped again," from palin "again" (see palindrome) + verbal adj. of psen "to rub smooth" (of unknown origin).
palindrome Look up palindrome at Dictionary.com
"a line that reads the same backward and forward," c.1629, from Gk. palindromos "a recurrence," lit. "a running back," from palin "again, back" (from PIE base *kwel- "move round," with notion of "revolving; see cycle) + dromos "a running."
palinode Look up palinode at Dictionary.com
1599, from M.Fr. palinod (16c.), from L. palinodia, from Gk. palinoidia "poetic retraction," from palin "again, back" (see palindrome) + oide "song."
palisade Look up palisade at Dictionary.com
"a fence of stakes," 1600, from Fr. palissade, from Prov. palissada, from palissa "a stake or paling," from Gallo-Romance *palicea, from L. palus "stake" (see pale (n.)). Military sense is attested from 1697. The Palisades, along the Hudson River opposite New York City, so called by 1838.
pall (n.) Look up pall at Dictionary.com
O.E. pæll "rich cloth, cloak, altar cloth," from L. pallium "cloak, covering," in Tertullian, the garment worn by Christians instead of the Roman toga; related to pallo "robe, cloak," palla "long upper garment of Roman women," perhaps from the root of pellis "skin." Notion of "cloth spread over a coffin" (c.1440) led to fig. sense of "dark, gloomy mood" (1742).
pall (v.) Look up pall at Dictionary.com
"become tiresome," 1700, from M.E. pallen "to become faint, fail in strength" (late 14c.), aphetic form of appallen "to dismay, fill with horror or disgust" (see appall).
pall-mall Look up pall-mall at Dictionary.com
see mall.
Palladian Look up Palladian at Dictionary.com
1731, "in the style of Andrea Palladio," Roman architect (1518-80).
palladium Look up palladium at Dictionary.com
c.1600, "safeguard," originally (late 14c.) "sacred image of Pallas Athene," from L. palladium, from Gk. Palladion, neut. of Palladios "of Pallas." It stood in the citadel of Troy and the safety of the city was believed to depend on it. As the name of a metallic element, it was coined 1803 by discoverer, William Hyde Wollaston (1766-1828), from Pallas, name of an asteroid discovered the previous year (by Ger. astronomer Olbers) and named for the goddess.
Pallas Look up Pallas at Dictionary.com
Gk. goddess' name, lit. "little maiden," related to pallake "concubine," and probably somehow connected to Avestan pairika "beautiful women seducing pious men."
pallet (1) Look up pallet at Dictionary.com
"mattress," late 14c., from Anglo-Fr. paillete "straw, bundle of straw," from O.Fr. paillete "chaff," from paille "straw," from L. palea "chaff," cognate with Skt. palavah, O.C.S. pleva, Rus. peleva, Lith. pelus.
pallet (2) Look up pallet at Dictionary.com
"flat wooden blade" used as a tool by potters, etc., 1558, from M.Fr. palette, dim. of pale "spade, shovel" (see palette). Meaning "large portable tray" used with forklift for moving loads is from 1921.
palliard Look up palliard at Dictionary.com
1484, "vagabond or beggar" (who sleeps on straw in barns), from M.Fr. paillard, from O.Fr. paillart (13c.), from paille "straw" (see pallet (1)).
palliate Look up palliate at Dictionary.com
"to alleviate without curing," 1540s, from M.L. palliatus, lit. "cloaked," from pp. of L.L. palliare "cover with a cloak, conceal," from L. pallium "cloak" (see pall (n.)).
palliative Look up palliative at Dictionary.com
1540s (adj.), from Fr. palliatif (14c.), from M.L. palliatus (see palliate). As a noun, recorded from 1724.
pallid Look up pallid at Dictionary.com
"lacking color," 1590, from L. pallidus "pale," from root of pallere "be pale" (see pallor).
pallor Look up pallor at Dictionary.com
c.1400, from O.Fr. palor "paleness," from L. pallor, from pallere "be pale," related to pallus "dark-colored, dusky," from PIE base *pel- "dark-colored, gray" (cf. Skt. palitah "gray," panduh "whitish, pale," Gk. pelios "livid," polios "gray," O.E. fealo "dull-colored, yellow, brown").
palm (1) Look up palm at Dictionary.com
"flat of the hand," c.1300, from O.Fr. palme, from L. palma "palm of the hand," from PIE *pela- "to spread out, flat" (cf. Gk. palame "open hand," O.Ir. lam, Welsh llaw O.E. folm, O.H.G. folma "hand," Skt. panih "hand, hoof"). To palm (something) off is from 1822; earlier simply to palm "impose (something) on (someone)" (1679). Palm oil is earlier in the punning sense of "bribe" (c.1627) than in the literal sense of "oil from the fruit of the W.African palm" (1705, from palm (2)).
palm (2) Look up palm at Dictionary.com
"tropical tree," O.E. palma, O.Fr. palme, both from L. palma "palm tree," originally "palm of the hand;" the tree so called from the shape of its leaves, like fingers of a hand (see palm (1)). The word traveled early to northern Europe, where the tree does not grow, via Christianity (e.g. O.E. palm-sunnandæg "Palm Sunday"). In ancient times, a leaf or frond was carried or worn as a symbol of victory or triumph, or on feast days; hence fig. use of palm for "victory, triumph" (c.1386), and adj. palmy "triumphant" (1602). Palm court "large room in a hotel, etc., usually decorated with potted palms" first recorded 1908. Palmer "pilgrim who has returned from the Holy Land" (1176, as a surname) is from Anglo-Fr. palmer (O.Fr. palmier), from M.L. palmarius, from L. palma "palm tree." So called because they wore palm branches in commemoration of the journey.
palmetto Look up palmetto at Dictionary.com
1583, from Sp. palmito "dwarf fan palm tree," dim. of palma "palm tree," from L. palma (see palm (2)). The suffix was subsequently Italianized. The Palmetto Flag was an emblem of South Carolina after secession (1860); S.C. called Palmetto State from at least 1837.
palmistry Look up palmistry at Dictionary.com
"divination from the palm of the hand," c.1420, from palme (see palm (1)) + obscure second element, perhaps -estre (as in M.E. webbestre "weaver") or -rie (as in M.E. archerie "archery").
palomino Look up palomino at Dictionary.com
1914, from Amer.Sp. palomino "cream-colored horse," from Sp., lit. "young dove," perhaps from It. palombino "dove-colored," from L. palumbinus "of wood pigeons," from palumba "wood pigeon." The horse so called because of its dove-like coloring, light brown or cream with a pale mane and tail.
palooka Look up palooka at Dictionary.com
"mediocre prizefighter," 1925, of unknown origin, credited to U.S. sportswriter and humorist Jack Conway. Non-boxing sense of "average person" is from Joe Palooka, hero of Ham Fisher's comic strip.
palpable Look up palpable at Dictionary.com
late 14c., "that can be touched," from L.L. palpabilis "that may be touched or felt," from L. palpare "touch gently, stroke" (see feel (v.)). Figurative sense of "easily perceived, evident" is from 1540s.
palpitate Look up palpitate at Dictionary.com
1620s, from L. palpitatus, pp. of palpitare (see palpitation). Related: Palpitating.
palpitation Look up palpitation at Dictionary.com
late 15c., from M.Fr. palpitation, from L. palpitationem (nom. palpitatio), from palpitare "to throb, to flutter," freq. of palpare "touch gently, stroke" (see feel (v.)).
palsgrave Look up palsgrave at Dictionary.com
1548, "a count palatine," from M.Du. palsgrave, from pals "palace" (from L. palatium, see palace) + grave (Du. graaf) "count." Cf. cognate M.H.G. pfalzgrave, Ger. Pfalzgraf.
palsy Look up palsy at Dictionary.com
"disease causing paralysis," late 13c., palesie, from Anglo-Fr. parlesie, O.Fr. paralisie, from L. paralysis (see paralysis).
paltry (adj.) Look up paltry at Dictionary.com
1570, probably adj. use of noun paltry "worthless thing" (1556), associated with dial. palt, pelt "trash," cognate with M.L.G. and E.Fris. palte "rag," M.Du. palt "broken or torn fragment." Cf. Low Ger. paltrig "rubbishy," E.Fris. palterig "ragged, torn."
pampas Look up pampas at Dictionary.com
"large plains of S.America, 1704, from Sp. pampas, pl. of pampa, from Quechua (Peru) pampa "a plain."
pamper Look up pamper at Dictionary.com
c.1380, "to cram with food," probably from M.Du. (cf. W.Flem. pamperen "cram with food, overindulge;" dial. Ger. pampen "to cram"), probably from freq. of base of pap (q.v.). Meaning "to overindulge" first attested 1530.
pamphlet Look up pamphlet at Dictionary.com
"small, unbound treatise," late 14c., from Anglo-Latin panfletus, popular short form of "Pamphilus, seu de Amore" ("Pamphilus, or about Love"), a short L. love poem of 12c., popular and widely copied in Middle Ages; the name from Gk. pamphilos "loved by all," from pan- "all" + philos "loving, dear." Meaning "brief work dealing with questions of current interest" is late 16c. Pamphleteer (n.) is first recorded 1640s.
pan (n.) Look up pan at Dictionary.com
O.E. panne, earlier ponne (Mercian), from W.Gmc. *panna (cf. O.N. panna, O.Fris. panne, O.L.G. panna, O.H.G. phanna, Ger. pfanne), probably an early borrowing (4c. or 5c.) from V.L. *patna, from L. patina "shallow, pan, dish," from Gk. patane "plate, dish," from PIE base *pet- "to spread." Ir. panna probably is from English, and Lith. pana is from German. Used of pan-shaped parts of mechanical apparatus from c.1590; hence flash in the pan, a figurative use from early firearms, where a pan held the priming (and the gunpowder might "flash," but no shot ensue). The verb meaning "criticize severely" is from 1911. To pan out "turn out, succeed" (1868) is a figurative use of the lit. sense (1839) from panning for gold. To go out of the pan into the fire is first found in Spenser (1596).
pan (v.) Look up pan at Dictionary.com
"follow with a camera," 1913 shortening of panoramic, from panoramic camera (1878). Meaning "to swing from one object to another in a scene" is from 1931. Panavision (1955) is a proprietary name of a type of wide-screen lens.
Pan Look up Pan at Dictionary.com
Arcadian shepherd god with upper body of a man and lower part like a goat, c.1369, a god of the woods and fields, from L., from Gk. Pan, perhaps cognate with Skt. pusan, a Vedic god, guardian and multiplier of cattle and other human possessions, lit. "nourisher." Similarity to pan "all" (see pan-) led to his being regarded as a personification of nature. Pan-pipe, upon which he supposedly played, is attested from 1820.
pan- Look up pan- at Dictionary.com
prefix meaning "all, whole, all-inclusive," from Gk. pan-, combining form of pas (neut. pan, masc. and neut. gen. pantos) "all," of unknown origin. Commonly used as a prefix in Gk., in modern times often with nationality names, the first example of which seems to have been Panslavism (1846, q.v.). Also panislamic (1881), pan-American (1889), pan-German (1892), pan-African (1900), pan-European (1901), pan-Arabism (1930).
panacea Look up panacea at Dictionary.com
1548, from L. panacea, an all-healing herb (variously identified), from Gk. panakeia "cure-all," from panakes "all-healing," from pan- "all" + akos "cure," from iasthai "to heal." Earlier in Eng. as panace (1513).
panache Look up panache at Dictionary.com
1553, "a tuft or plume of feathers," from M.Fr. pennache "tuft of feathers," from It. pennaccio, from L.L. pinnaculum "small wing, gable, peak" (see pinnacle). Fig. sense of "display, swagger" first recorded 1898 (in translation of "Cyrano de Bergerac"), from French.
panama hat Look up panama hat at Dictionary.com
hat made from the leaves of the screw pine, 1833, a misnomer, since it is originally made in Ecuador, but perhaps so called in Amer.Eng. because it was distributed north from Panama City. Panama red as a variety of Central Amer. marijuana is attested from 1967.
panatela Look up panatela at Dictionary.com
"type of thin cigar," 1901, from Sp., lit. "sponge-cake" (in Amer.Sp., "a long, thin biscuit"), a diminutive, formed from L. panis "bread."
pancake Look up pancake at Dictionary.com
early 15c., from pan (n.) + cake; as symbol of flatness c.1600.
panchen Look up panchen at Dictionary.com
Tibetian Buddhist title of respect, 1763, abbrev. of pandi-tachen-po, lit. "great learned one."
pancreas Look up pancreas at Dictionary.com
1578, from Gk. pankreas "sweetbread (pancreas as food), pancreas," from pan- "all" + kreas "flesh," probably on notion of homogeneous substance of the organ.
panda Look up panda at Dictionary.com
1835, from Fr., apparently from Nepalese name of a raccoon-like mammal (lesser panda) found there. First reference to the Giant Panda is from 1901; since its discovers in 1869 by Fr. missionary Armand David (1826-1900) it had been known as parti-colored bear, but the name was changed after the zoological relationship to the red panda was established.
pandemic (adj.) Look up pandemic at Dictionary.com
1666, from Gk. pandemos "pertaining to all people," from pan- "all" + demos "people" (see demotic). Modeled on epidemic. The noun is first recorded 1853, from the adj.
pandemonium Look up pandemonium at Dictionary.com
1667, Pandæmonium, in "Paradise Lost" the name of the palace built in the middle of Hell, "the high capital of Satan and all his peers," coined by John Milton (1608-74) from Gk. pan- "all" + L.L. dæmonium "evil spirit," from Gk. daimonion "inferior divine power," from daimon "lesser god" (see demon). Transferred sense "place of uproar" is from 1779; that of "wild, lawless confusion" is from 1865.
pander (n.) Look up pander at Dictionary.com
"arranger of sexual liaisons, one who supplies another with the means of gratifying lust," 1520s, "procurer, pimp," from M.E. Pandare (late 14c.), used by Chaucer ("Troylus and Cryseyde"), who borrowed it from Boccaccio (who had it in It. form Pandaro in "Filostrato") as name of the prince who procured the love of Cressida (his niece in Chaucer, his cousin in Boccaccio) for Troilus. The story and the name are of medieval invention. Spelling influenced by agent suffix -er. The verb meaning "to indulge, to minister to base passions" is first recorded c.1600.
Pandora Look up Pandora at Dictionary.com
1579, first mortal woman, made by Hephaestus and given as a bride to Epimetheus, from Gk. pandora "all-gifted," from pan "all" + doron "gift," from PIE base *do- "to give." Pandora's box (1579) refers to her gift from Zeus, which was foolishly opened by Epimetheus, upon which all the contents escaped. They were said to be the host of human ills, or, in a later version, all the blessings of the god, except Hope, which alone remained.
pane Look up pane at Dictionary.com
mid-13c., "garment, part of a garment," later "side of a building, section of a wall," from O.Fr. pan "piece, panel" (11c.), from L. pannum (nom. pannus) "piece of cloth, garment," probably cognate with Goth. fana "piece of cloth," Gk. penos "web." Sense of "window glass" first attested mid-15c.