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palat

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Etymology and origin of the Romanian word palat

palat1 palate

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1810 Șincai's Istoria naturei
Borrowed from
Latin palatum
Ultimate origin
Latin palātum
Etymology tree of palat1
inherited borrowed derived
Latin palātum
English palate
Romanian palat
From the same root · palat1
English palatable ← palate

Forms

palat n (plural palate)[1]

Etymology

The word for the palate is borrowed from Latin palātum (“palate”), with Italian palato as a second model according to DEX and MDN.[2][3][4][1] DEX and the DLR compare French palais.[2][5] Ciorănescu treats it as a rendering of the French word, which means both “palace” and “palate”.[6] The same Latin word was inherited as the old păraț “palate”, whose form was influenced by palātium.[7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is Gheorghe Șincai's manuscript Istoria naturei, translated from German about 1810, where the palate is named among the organs of taste.[4][5]

Semantic evolution

It is an anatomical term, used with tare or dur for the hard palate and moale for the soft palate.[2][3] It replaced the inherited păraț, which MDA2 marks as old and rare.[8][5]

Timeline

  • c. 1810 – palat “palate” in Șincai's Istoria naturei, the first record.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The palate, the arched roof of the mouth: palat dur “hard palate”, palat moale “soft palate”.[2][3][1]

palat2 palace

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1581 Coresi's Evanghelie cu învățătură
Borrowed from
Byzantine Greek παλάτι
Ultimate origin
Latin palātium

Forms

palat n (plural palate)[1] Old and regional variants include pălat, palată, paleaț and palută; the plural is palate, in popular use also palaturi.[4][2]

Etymology

The word for the palace is borrowed from Byzantine Greek παλάτι (paláti), from Latin palātium, according to DER and Wiktionary.[6][1] DER cites Meyer, Candrea and Densusianu for the Greek route and holds that direct descent from Latin is not possible.[6] MDA2, the DLR and DEX give several sources together: Modern Greek παλάτι (paláti), the Latin word, Polish pałac and Old Church Slavonic палата (palata) or полата (polata).[4][5][2] Tiktin takes it from Latin indirectly.[9]

The old polată “princely palace” is полата (polata), as DER and MDA2 say;[6][10][11] Coresi already uses it in 1581.[6][10][11] The Transylvanian palută comes from Hungarian palota, and the old paleaț from the Polish word, itself from Italian palazzo.[6][9] South of the Danube the forms are Aromanian pălate and pulată.[6] DER compares Albanian paljat.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is Coresi's Evanghelie cu învățătură of 1581, in the sense “palace”; the same book has polată a page earlier.[4][9][11]

Semantic evolution

In the old texts palat and the Slavonic polată were both used for a ruler's residence: Varlaam has „să vor duce în polatele cetăței ceii de sus” “they will go into the palaces of the upper city”.[5] Dosoftei writes „polate foarte ghizdave” “very fine palaces”.[9] Polată then became regional, for a lean-to shed by a peasant house or a shelter.[10][11][1] Palat widened from a ruler's residence to the seat of an authority or institution, such as palatul justiției, and to any large, luxurious building.[2][9] DER records the derivative pălătui “to live in a palace”.[6]

Timeline

  • 1581 – palat and polată in Coresi's Evanghelie cu învățătură, the first records.[4][10][9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A palace: the residence of a sovereign, head of state or nobleman.[2][1]
  2. A grand building housing an authority or institution: Palatul Parlamentului.[2][9]
  3. By extension, any large, luxurious building.[2]

Word family

  • pălătui

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 DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 763
  3. ^ a b c Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. palat
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 248
  5. ^ a b c d e Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. palat
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. palat
  7. ^ Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. păraț
  8. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 303
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. palat
  10. ^ a b c d Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 448
  11. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. polată

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Palat.” Etymologically, 11 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/palat. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

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