pall
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pall¹
- /pɔːl/ UK
- /poːl/ Australia, British, New Zealand
- /pɔl/ US
- /pɑl/ US, cot caught merger
- /pɒl/ Canada
- /pɔl/ Scotland
Sounds like Paul · Rhymes with -ɔːl
Where it comes from
From Middle English pal, palle, from Old English pæl, pæll, from Old French paile and Latin pallium (“cloak; covering”) (and thus a doublet of pallium), probably from palla (“piece of cloth worn as apparel”) (possibly from Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“to cover, wrap; hide, skin; cloth”)) + -ium (suffix forming abstract nouns).
noun palls
- Fine cloth, especially purple cloth used for robes.
- A heavy cloth laid over a coffin or tomb; a shroud laid over a corpse. After his death he [Diocletian] remained corporeally in possession of the palace, his tomb resting in the centre of the mausoleum. Thirty years or so later, a woman was put to death for stealing the purple pall from his sarcophagus, a strange, crazy crime, […]
- A piece of cardboard, covered with linen and embroidered on one side, used to cover the chalice during the Eucharist.
- A cloth used for various purposes on the altar in a church, such as a corporal (“cloth on which elements of the Eucharist are placed”) or frontal (“drapery covering the front of an altar”).
- An outer garment; a cloak, mantle, or robe. In a long purple pall, whose ſkirt with gold, / Was fretted all about, ſhe was arayd, […]
- Something that covers or surrounds like a cloak; in particular, a cloud of dust, smoke, etc., or a feeling of fear, gloom, or suspicion. The early election results cast a pall over what was supposed to be a celebration.
- Especially in Roman Catholicism: a pallium (“liturgical vestment worn over the chasuble”). By the way, a pall is a pontifical vestment, considerable for the matter, making, and mysteries thereof. […] But, to speak plainly, the mystery of mysteries in this pall was, that the archbishops' receiving it showed therein their dependence on Rome; and a mote, in this manner ceremoniously taken, w
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A charge representing an archbishop's pallium, having the form of the letter Y, sometimes charged with crosses.
The flag of South Africa has a green pall
Similar: cross-pall, pairle
pall²
- /pɔːl/ UK
- /poːl/ Australia, British, New Zealand
- /pɔl/ US
- /pɑl/ US, cot caught merger
- /pɒl/ Canada
- /pɔl/ Scotland
Sounds like Paul · Rhymes with -ɔːl
Where it comes from
From the noun pall (“cloth”).
verb palls · palling · palled
- To cloak or cover with, or as if with, a pall. Come, thick Night, / And pall thee in the dunneſt ſmoake of Hell, / That my keene Knife ſee not the Wound it makes, / Nor Heauen peepe through the Blanket of the darke, / To cry, hold, hold.
pall³
- /pɔːl/ UK
- /poːl/ Australia, British, New Zealand
- /pɔl/ US
- /pɑl/ US, cot caught merger
- /pɒl/ Canada
- /pɔl/ Scotland
Sounds like Paul · Rhymes with -ɔːl
Where it comes from
Formed by aphesis from appal, appall (“(obsolete) to make pale; to weaken; to become weak; to lose flavour or become stale”), possibly under the influence of the figurative meaning of the unrelated noun pall.
Alternatively, the word may be derived from Middle English pallen (“to diminish, impair, weaken; to become faint; to lose spirit”), formed by aphesis from apallen (“to become or make faint or tired; to become indifferent; to fade or cause to fade away; to dim, weaken; to become stale; to be frightened; to frighten; to become pale”), from Old French apalir (“to become or cause to become pale”), possibly from Latin pallidus (“pale, pallid; pale with fright, frightened; mouldy, musty”), from palleō (“to be pale, turn pale; to be anxious or fearful; to fade or change colour”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pel-, *pelH- (“grey; pale”)) + -idus (suffix meaning ‘tending to’ forming adjectives).
verb palls · palling · palled
- To make vapid or insipid; to make lifeless or spiritless; to dull, to weaken. […] Reaſon and Reflection, which by repreſenting perpetually to the mind of Man the meanneſs of all ſenſual Gratifications, do, in great meaſure, blunt the edge of his keeneſt Deſires, and pall all his Enjoyments.
- To become dull, insipid, tasteless, or vapid; to lose life, spirit, strength, or taste. The liquor palls.
pall⁴
- /pɔːl/ UK
- /poːl/ Australia, British, New Zealand
- /pɔl/ US
- /pɑl/ US, cot caught merger
- /pɒl/ Canada
- /pɔl/ Scotland
Sounds like Paul · Rhymes with -ɔːl
Where it comes from
From the verb pall (“to make vapid”).
noun palls
- A feeling of nausea caused by disgust or overindulgence. Tho the Impatience of abſtaining be greater; the Pleaſure of Indulgence is really leſs. The Palls or Nauseatings which continually intervene, are of the worſt and moſt hateful kind of Senſation. Hardly is there any thing taſted which is wholly free from this ill reliſh of a ſurfeited Senſe and ruin'
pall⁵
- /pɔːl/ UK
- /poːl/ Australia, British, New Zealand
- /pɔl/ US
- /pɑl/ US, cot caught merger
- /pɒl/ Canada
- /pɔl/ Scotland
Sounds like Paul · Rhymes with -ɔːl
noun palls
- Alternative form of pawl
verb palls · palling · palled
- Alternative form of pawl
Pall⁶
Where it comes from
Various origins:
* Borrowed from Hungarian Páll, a variant of Pál.
* Borrowed from Telugu పాల్ (pāl), a rendition of the personal name Paul.
proper noun Palls
- A surname.
Translations
Every language
noun heavy cloth laid over a coffin or tomb
| Français | drap mortuaire, poêle |
|---|---|
| Italiano | sudario, drappo funerario, drappo, cappa |
| Русский | покро́в на гро́бе pokróv na gróbe, пелена́ pelená |
Talk about this word "pall." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/pall. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. pall. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/pall "pall." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/pall.Cite this
@misc{pall_2026,
title = {pall},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/pall},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
