English
pall
Pall may come from Middle English pal.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500paluncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1590pall
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500paluncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1590pall
Earliest quotation: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book II, Canto IX: “In a long purple pall, whose ſkirt with gold,…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *pel-
film, felt, simple, simply, push, filter, powder, complain, fold, pulse, pillow, flaw, repeal, compulsive, expel, repel, pollen, propel, pelt, peloton, palate, palpable, polemic, palatable, tuple, muffle, pollinate, apoplexy, peplum, wallow, pulver, interpolate, pillion, palatal, palp, 64 more
Another origin of pall
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pelH-‘pale, gray’root as named
- English1500–presentappall‘(obsolete) to make pale’
- Englishtodaypall
Formed by aphesis from appal, appall (‘(obsolete) to make pale; to weaken; to become weak; to lose flavour or become stale’), possibly under the influence of the figurative meaning of the unrelated noun pall. Alternatively, the word may be derived from Middle English pallen (‘to diminish, impair, weaken; to become faint; to lose spirit’), formed by aphesis from apallen (‘to become or make faint or tired; to become indifferent; to fade or cause to fade away; to dim, weaken; to become stale; to be frightened; to frighten; to become pale’), from Old French apalir (‘to become or cause to become pale’), possibly from Latin pallidus (‘pale, pallid; pale with fright, frightened; mouldy, musty’), from palleō (‘to be pale, turn pale; to be anxious or fearful; to fade or change colour’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pel-, *pelH- (‘grey; pale’)) + -idus (suffix meaning ‘tending to’ forming adjectives).
Today it means
noun Fine cloth, especially purple cloth used for robes.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English pal / pall