Etymograph

English

palm

Palm comes from Latin palma ‘palm-tree, palm-branch, palm of the hand’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- ‘flat’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleh₂-‘flat’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*pl̥h₂meh₂reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*palamāreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpalma‘palm-tree, palm-branch, palm of the hand’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150palm‘palm-tree, palm-branch’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500palme‘palm (tree)’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1611palm

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleh₂-‘flat’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*pl̥h₂meh₂reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*palamāreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpalma‘palm-tree, palm-branch, palm of the hand’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150palm‘palm-tree, palm-branch’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500palme‘palm (tree)’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1611palm

Earliest quotation: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “A great multitude […] stood before the throne, and…”.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- ‘flat’

field, floor, explain, plane, explanation, plain, clan, archipelago, explanatory, playa, fluke, placenta, planar, esplanade, flounder, placate, plantar, implacable, pelagic, lech, flay, polonium, palatine, veld, llano, floe, planta, purdah, 49 more

through Latin palma ‘palm-tree, palm-branch, palm of the hand’

parma, 11 more

Another origin of palm

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleh₂-‘flat’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*pl̥h₂(e)meh₂e‘palm of the hand’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpalma‘palm of the hand, hand-breadth’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400palme‘palm of the hand, ball, tennis’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500palme‘palm (tree)’
  6. Englishtodaypalm

Today it means

noun Any of various evergreen trees from the family Palmae or Arecaceae, which are mainly found in the tropics.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- / palm

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