Etymograph

English

Polari

Polari comes from Italian parlare ‘to talk’, and goes back to Early Medieval Latin parabolāre.

  1. Early Medieval Latinmodernparabolāre
  2. Italianc. 1300–presentparlare‘to talk’
  3. EnglishtodayPolari

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Early Medieval Latinmodernparabolāre
  2. Italianc. 1300–presentparlare‘to talk’
  3. EnglishtodayPolari

The story

The loss of the first r and the changing vowel quality of the non-stressed vowels is due to the non-rhotic UK accent which reinterpreted the phonemes. The adoption of the infinitive form means that the word probably originated from a Romance-based creole or pidgin like Sabir. First use in English appears c. 1846, in the writings of Lord Chief Baron.

Linked words

through Early Medieval Latin parabolāre

parlor, 3 more

Today it means

name A cant used in the London fishmarkets, in the British theatre, and by the gay community in Britain, attested since at least the 19th century and popularised in the 1950s and 1960s by the camp characters Julian and Sandy in the popular BBC radio show Round the Horne.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Early Medieval Latin parabolāre / Polari

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