Etymologically
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παλάμη

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Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /pa.lá.mɛː/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /paˈla.mi/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /paˈla.mi/[1]

Forms

πᾰλᾰ́μη (palámē) f (genitive πᾰλᾰ́μης); first declension[1] Doric παλάμᾱ; epic παλάμηφι(ν).[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *palámā, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₂(e)meh₂, from *pleh₂- (“flat”).[1][4] It is related to Latin palma (“palm of the hand”), Old High German folma, Old English folm and Old Irish lám (“hand”), which all have an old zero-grade derivative in m, *pl̥h₂-m-, of a lost verb meaning “to spread out”; the Greek form requires *pl̥h₂-em-.[4][5] Wiktionary adds Albanian shpullë.[1]

Chantraine notes that forms such as ἀπάλαμνος (apálamnos) require a neuter *πάλαμα (*pálama) beside παλάμη, as μνῆμα (mnêma) stands beside μνήμη (mnḗmē).[5] Other derivatives of the same root have been seen in παλαστή (palastḗ, “palm's breadth”) and πέλαγος (pélagos, “open sea”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer it is the hand thought of as grasping: the Iliad speaks of carrying something “in the palms” (1.238), and the Odyssey uses it in the same way (1.104).[3][6]

Semantic evolution

Chantraine distinguishes it from χείρ (kheír, “hand, arm”): παλάμη is the flat of the hand, the hand as it grips, acts and works with skill, and by metonymy strength and skill, often the helping or harmful power of the gods.[5] So it is also the hand that does violence (Homer, Simonides, Euripides) or makes works of art (Homer, Hesiod, Pindar).[2] The plural means a device or stratagem in Alcaeus and later poets,[2] and Theognis speaks of a “means of living”.[2][5] Its derivatives always have the figurative sense of strength or skill: παλαμάομαι (palamáomai, “to handle, contrive”), and παλαμναῖος (palamnaîos), “one who acts with his own hand”, a murderer.[5][4]

The word was mostly poetic in antiquity: GLAUx has nearly all its early examples in epic.[6] It continues in Modern Greek as παλάμη (palámi), the palm of the hand.[7][8]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for the hand that grasps.[3][2]
  • Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it for the hand that makes a work of art.[2][9]
  • 7th–6th century BC – Alcaeus uses the plural for a device or stratagem.[2][9]
  • 6th century BC – Theognis has it for a means of living.[2][5]
  • 5th century BC – Sophocles uses it for an act of violence, and Euripides for a sword.[2][9]
  • Modern Greek – It survives as παλάμη, “palm of the hand”.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The palm of the hand; the hand, as it grasps.[2][3]
  2. The hand that does violence; an act of violence; a weapon.[2]
  3. The hand that makes works of art or builds.[2]
  4. (usually plural) A skilful act, device, stratagem, of gods or men.[2][5]
  5. A method or means of achieving something.[2]

Word family

  • παλαμάομαι (palamáomai)
  • ἀπάλαμνος (apálamnos)
  • παλαμναῖος (palamnaîos)
  • παλαστή (palastḗ)
  • Latin palma

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
  4. ^ a b c d Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
  6. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
  7. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  8. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
  9. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge