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palla

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word palla

Confidence
Uncertain
First attested
c. 235–200 BC, Naevius

Forms

palla f (genitive pallae); first declension[1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.[2][3][4] De Vaan finds no etymology: a preform such as ⟨*pHl-⟩ with some suffix, or a root as in pellis (“skin”), is possible, but it may well be a loanword.[2] Wiktionary reports Höfler's proposal of Proto-Italic *palasā, from Proto-Indo-European *pĺ̥h₂seh₂, cognate with the Hittite word for a woman's garment.[1] Lewis and Short relate it to ⟨pellis⟩, and Köbler to a root Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“to cover”) (Pokorny 803).[5][6] Varro, reported by Servius, derived it from Greek “to shake”, from its folds and movement.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Naevius.[2][6] In Plautus a husband is asked whether he has stolen the palla to give to a prostitute.[3]

Semantic evolution

It is the long rectangular mantle worn by Roman women out of doors, fastened with brooches.[3][5][1] Worn by men it is a garment of non-Romans, as Ovid's Apollo whose palla dyed in Tyrian purple sweeps the ground, and it was a stage costume, as the gilded palla of a lyre-player.[3] Celsus uses it of a covering.[3]

In Church Latin it is a pall: an altar cloth, a curtain, a cover for the chalice or a coffin.[7] Medieval Latin also used it for a cover, a shroud, a corporal, and the globe among the royal insignia.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius.[2][6]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a wife's mantle.[3][6]
  • 86/82 BC – The Rhetorica ad Herennium of a stage costume.[3][6]
  • 538/539–594 AD – Gregory of Tours.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A woman's long rectangular mantle, fastened with brooches.[3][5][1]
  2. A mantle worn by foreigners or gods; a stage costume.[3]
  3. A covering, curtain.[3][7][8]
  4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A pall, altar cloth; a cover for the chalice or a coffin; a corporal.[7][8]
  5. (Medieval Latin) A shroud; the royal orb.[8]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
Cite this entry

“Palla.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/palla. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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