c. 1600, "a fence of strong stakes," from Middle French palissade (15c.), from Provençal palissada, from palissa "a stake or paling," from Gallo-Roman *palicea, from Latin palus "stake" (from PIE *pakslo-, suffixed form of root *pag- "to fasten"). Earlier in Italian form palisado (1580s). Compare pale (n.). Palisades in the military sense of "close rows of strong pointed wooden stakes fixed in the ground as a defensive fortification" is attested from 1690s. The Palisades for the trap-rock precipices along the Hudson River opposite New York City is by 1823.
