palette English · revision 39928

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1622, H. Peacham, Compleat Gentleman|origins=la pāla}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /ˈpælɪt/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /ˈpælɪt/, /ˈpælət/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|palette]], which meant a painter's palette by 1621,^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) originally [[m|fro|palete|t=small shovel, blade]] (13th century),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) a diminutive of [[m|fro|pale|t=shovel, oar blade]]^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Weekley 1921) formed with the suffix [[-ette]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) The French noun continues [[la|pāla|t=spade, shoulder blade]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2024)^(Barnhart 1988)^(ODE 2010) Dictionary.com and Skeat take the French word through [[m|it|paletta]], a diminutive of [[m|it|pala|t=shovel]].^(Dictionary.com 2016)^(Skeat 1911) Etymonline traces the Latin noun to a suffixed form of [[ine-pro|*pag-|t=to fasten]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2024) and Merriam-Webster relates it to [[m|la|pangō|t=to fix, fasten]], the source of [[pact]];^(MWU 2024) Barnhart thinks it is perhaps related to [[m|la|pālus|t=stake]], the source of [[pale]].^(Barnhart 1988) Hoad treats it with [[pallet]], a word of the same origin.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A thin, flat board on which a painter lays out and mixes colours: 1622, in Henry Peacham's ''Compleat Gentleman''.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) The Shorter Oxford and the Oxford Dictionary of English date the word only to the late 18th century.^(SOED 2002)^(ODE 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Johnson (1755) defined it as "a light board on which a painter holds his colours", quoting Dryden.^(Johnson 1755) French had used ''palette'' for the range of colours of a painter since 1733,^(OED 2026) and the English sense, the colours used by a particular artist or in a particular picture, is recorded from 1782 in the OED,^(OED 2026) from 1882 in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) In the 20th century the word was extended to any range of things to choose from, and in music to the range of tonal or instrumental colour of a composer or work (1953),^(OED 2026) and in computing to the colours, fonts or tools a program offers, or a window listing them (1975).^(OED 2026) The ''palette knife'', first used by artists to mix colours, is recorded by 1759.^(Etymonline) Zoologists used ''palette'' from 1834 for a disc-like structure in molluscs and insects, and card players from 1949 for the banker's implement for moving cards and chips.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1622 – an artist's board for mixing colours.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1759 – ''palette knife''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1782 – the range of colours used by an artist or in a picture.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1834 – (zoology) a disc-like structure.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1949 – (cards) the banker's implement for moving cards and chips.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1953 – any range of things to choose from; in music, a range of tonal colour.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1975 – (computing) the colours or tools available to a user.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A thin board or slab, often with a hole for the thumb, on which an [[artist]] lays out and mixes [[paint|alt=paints]].^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # The range of [[colour|alt=colours]] used by a particular artist or in a particular painting: ''His later work has a much darker palette.''^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # (computing) The range of colours, fonts or tools available to the user of a [[program]], or the window that displays them.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # Any range of things from which a choice can be made; in [[music]], the range of tonal colour of a composer or piece.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[palettelike]]

+ * [[palette knife]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[pallet]]

+ * [[pale]]

+ * [[pact]]

+ * [[peel]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}