palmer

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈpɑːmə/ (UK); /ˈpɑmɚ/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English palmere, borrowed from Anglo-Norman palmer, Old French palmier,^[2][3][4] from Medieval Latin palmārius, a pilgrim,^[2][3][5] from Latin palma, palm tree (see palm),^[2][4] so called because such pilgrims carried palm branches as a sign of their journey to the Holy Land.^[2][3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A pilgrim who had returned from the Holy Land, carrying a palm branch or leaf: before 1300 in the OED, about 1300 in Etymonline;^[7][2] as a surname from the mid-12th century.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It was later used of an itinerant monk going from shrine to shrine under a vow of poverty.^[2] A destructive hairy caterpillar, the palmer-worm, is from 1538,^[7][3] and in angling an artificial fly with bristling hairs from 1651.^[7] A woodlouse is from 1725.^[7] A person who palms cards or dice is a different formation, from the late 17th century.^[8]

Timeline

• mid-12th century – as a surname.^[2]
• before 1300 – a pilgrim.^[7]
• 1538 – a caterpillar.^[7]
• 1651 – an angling fly.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. (historical) A medieval pilgrim who carried a palm branch as a sign of having visited the Holy Land.
2. A hairy caterpillar, the palmer-worm, or an artificial fly imitating it.

Word family

• palmerworm

Related words

• palm
• pilgrim

Usage notes

In Scots and Cumberland dialect, to palmer was to wander or stroll about.^[9]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)