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paloma

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Etymology and origin of the Spanish word paloma

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1189 Fuero de Valfermoso, spelt poloma More words from the 12th century
Inherited from
Latin palumba via Old Spanish
Ultimate origin
Latin palumbēs

Pronunciation

  • /paˈloma/, [paˈlo.ma][1]

Forms

paloma f (plural palomas, masculine palomo, masculine plural palomos)[1] Old Spanish palomba is found in Leonese, in Mozarabic and in Berceo, since La Rioja kept the group /mb/; the usual form was paloma.[2][3] The masculine palomo names the male bird.[2][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Spanish paloma, inherited from Vulgar Latin palumba, the popular form of Latin palumbēs (“wood pigeon”).[2][5][4][1] Latin distinguished columba (“pigeon, dove”), the tame bird, from the wild or wood pigeon;[2] Spanish, Portuguese and Romanian made the word for the wild bird the general name, while most other Romance languages kept columbus.[2] Corominas notes that Spanish stands even more apart in keeping the feminine for the whole species and the masculine palomo only for the male, where Portuguese and Leonese prefer the masculine.[2]

The same word is Portuguese pomba, Galician pomba, Asturian palomba, Occitan palomba, Italian palomba and Romanian porumb.[6][7][1] In Catalan paloma is an old or dialect word for the wild pigeon.[8] French palombe was borrowed in 1532 from Gascon.[9]

The origin of the Latin word is uncertain: de Vaan thinks it conceivable that the bird was named for its grey colour, comparing Ancient Greek πέλεια (péleia, “wild pigeon”) and the Latin verb palleō (“to be pale”), with the same suffix as the word for the tame pigeon.[10] Wiktionary adds that the suffix is unexplained and may point to a substrate.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas's first record is in Berceo (1220–1250), who uses both paloma and palomba.[2][5] In the Vida de Santa Oria the dove stirs and takes flight: moviose la palomba, comenzo de volar.[3] The DEMel has earlier records of palomba in Navarrese texts of the first third of the 12th century and poloma in the Fuero de Valfermoso of 1189.[11]

Semantic evolution

Alfonso X's prose uses paloma for the domestic bird kept in dovecotes, and paloma torcaza for the wood pigeon.[12] Nebrija lists several kinds, among them the duenda (tame) and the torcaza.[2] Covarrubias in 1611 records paloma sin hiel for a gentle, well-meaning person, since the dove was said to have no gall, and the dove with the olive branch sent out by Noah.[13] Autoridades in 1737 adds the southern constellation and the dove as the Holy Spirit.[14] The nautical sense, the middle of a yard where the halyards are fixed, is recorded from 1696.[2] The Academy's dictionary of 1817 has the cant sense “bed sheet”, and the edition of 1884 the white foam that announces wind on the Mediterranean coast.[15][16] The political sense, a supporter of conciliatory measures and of peace, is in the DLE.[4]

In Murcia and Andalusia paloma means “butterfly”.[2][7] Colloquially it is a drink of water and aniseed spirit.[17] In Mexico it is a drink of tequila and grapefruit soda, or a tick mark on a written exercise.[18] In Central America and Venezuela it is a vulgar word for the penis.[4][18]

Timeline

  • early 12th century – palomba in Navarrese texts.[11]
  • 1189 – poloma in the Fuero de Valfermoso.[11]
  • 1144 – the derivative palomar “dovecote”.[2][5]
  • 1220–1250 – Berceo uses paloma and palomba.[2][5]
  • 1250–1279 – the Lapidario speaks of palomas put into the dovecote.[12]
  • 1290 – palomino “young pigeon”.[2][5]
  • c. 1400 – palomo “male pigeon”.[2][5]
  • 1512 – first record in the Americas, in Puerto Rico.[19]
  • 1611 – Covarrubias records paloma sin hiel.[13]
  • 1696 – the nautical sense.[2]
  • 1737 – Autoridades adds the constellation and the Holy Spirit.[14]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A dove or pigeon, the domesticated bird descended from the wild pigeon, with many breeds differing in size and colour: Las palomas se posaron en la plaza.[4][1]
  2. A person of gentle, quiet character.[4]
  3. (politics) A dove: a supporter of moderate, conciliatory measures aimed at peace.[4][1]
  4. (nautical) The middle part of a yard, where the halyard blocks are fixed.[4]
  5. (zoology) Any bird of the order Columbiformes, such as the pigeon proper and the turtle dove.[4]
  6. (Central America, Venezuela, vulgar) The penis.[4][1]
  7. (thieves' cant) A bed sheet.[4]
  8. (in the plural, nautical) Foamy waves raised when a fresh wind begins to blow.[4]
  9. (Mexico) A tick mark that shows an answer is correct.[18][20]

Word family

  • palomo
  • palomar
  • palomino
  • palomilla
  • palomero

Usage notes

Paloma is the general name of the species, for both sexes;[2][4] palomo is used only for the male.[2][4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 357
  3. ^ a b Cejador y Frauca, Julio (1929), Vocabulario medieval castellano, Madrid: Librería y Casa Editorial Hernando, p. 317
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. palomo
  5. ^ a b c d e f Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. paloma
  6. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. paloma
  7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 6181
  8. ^ Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 6, 208
  9. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. palombe
  10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  11. ^ a b c Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. paloma
  12. ^ a b Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. paloma
  13. ^ a b Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 1187
  14. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 97
  15. ^ Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 632
  16. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 780
  17. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. paloma
  18. ^ a b c Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. paloma
  19. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. paloma
  20. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. paloma

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Paloma.” Etymologically, 13 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/es/paloma. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

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