Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “pal” come from?

pal (Middle English) comes from Old English pæl, from Pali pāli, from Latin pālus, from Proto-Italic pākslos, from Proto-Indo-European peh₂ǵ-slos, from Proto-Indo-European peh₂ǵ- — to attach.

Ancestry of “pal”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Englishpæl—
2Palipālia line, row; the original text
3Latinpālus—
4Proto-Italicpākslos—
5Proto-Indo-Europeanpeh₂ǵ-slos—
6Proto-Indo-Europeanpeh₂ǵ-to attach

Words derived from “pal”

  • pole
  • poles
  • dipole
  • pall
  • tarpaulin
  • flagpole
  • lodgepole
  • poleward
  • multipole
  • ridgepole
  • pallbearer
  • paletot
  • beanpole
  • polepiece
  • polewards
  • bipole
  • hexapole
  • octopole
  • clodpole
  • fishpole
  • tentpole
  • epipole
  • polearm
  • counterpole
Every word from Proto-Indo-European peh₂ǵ- →