Online Etymology Dictionary

pajamas (n.): 1800, pai jamahs "loose trousers tied at the waist," worn by Muslims in India and adopted by Europeans there, especially for nightwear, from Hindi pajama, probably from Persian paejamah, literally "leg clothing," from pae "leg" (from PIE root *ped- (1) "foot," see foot (n.)) + jamah "clothing." Modern spelling (U.S.) is from 1845. British spelling tends toward pyjamas.
Paki (n.): British slang for "immigrant from Pakistan," 1964, from first element of Pakistan.
Pakistan: south Asian nation formed 1947 by division of British India, the name apparently proposed 1930s by Muslim students at Cambridge University, first element said to be an acronym from Punjab, Afghanistan and Kashmir, three regions envisioned as forming the new state, which also made a play on Iranian pak "pure." For second element, see -stan. Related: Pakistani (1941).
pal (n.): 1788, from Romany (English Gypsy) pal "brother, comrade," variant of continental Romany pral, plal, phral, probably from Sanskrit bhrata "brother" (see brother (n.)). Extended colloquial form palsy-walsy attested from 1930.
pal (v.): 1879, from pal (n.). Related: Palled; palling.
palace (n.): early 13c., "official residence of an emperor, king, archbishop, etc.," from Old French palais "palace, court," from Medieval Latin palacium "a palace" (source of Spanish palacio, Italian palazzo), from Latin palatium "the Palatine hill," in plural, "a palace," from Mons Palatinus "the Palatine Hill," one of the seven hills of ancient Rome, where Augustus Caesar's house stood (the original "palace"), later the site of the splendid residence built by Nero. In English, the general sense of "splendid dwelling place" is from late 14c.

The hill name probably is ultimately from palus "stake," on the notion of "enclosure." Another guess is that it is from Etruscan and connected with Pales, supposed name of an Italic goddess of shepherds and cattle.
paladin (n.): 1590s, "one of the 12 knights in attendance on Charlemagne," from Middle French paladin "a warrior" (16c.), from Italian paladino, from Latin palatinus "palace official;" noun use of palatinus "of the palace" (see palace).

The Old French form of the word was palaisin (which gave Middle English palasin, c. 1400); the Italian form prevailed because, though the matter was French, most of the poets who wrote the romances were Italians.
palaeo-: see paleo-.
palaestra (n.): see palestra.
palanquin (n.): "a covered litter," 1580s, from Portuguese palanquim (early 16c.), from Malay and Javanese palangki "litter, sedan," ultimately from Sanskrit palyanka-s "couch, bed, litter," from pari "around" + ancati "it bends, curves," related to anka-s "a bend, hook, angle," and meaning, perhaps, "that which bends around the body." Some have noted the "curious coincidence" of Spanish palanca, from Latin phalanga "pole to carry a burden."
palatable (adj.): 1660s, "good-tasting," from palate + -able. Figurative use from 1680s. Related: Palatably; palatability.
palate (n.): late 14c., "roof of the mouth," from Old French palat and directly from Latin palatum "roof of the mouth," perhaps of Etruscan origin [Klein]. Popularly considered the seat of taste, hence transferred meaning "sense of taste" (late 14c.), which also was in classical Latin. Related: Palatal; palatalize.
palatial (adj.): 1754, from French palatial "magnificent," from Latin palatium (see palace). Related: Palatially.
palatinate (n.): 1650s, from palatine + -ate (1). In England and Ireland, a county palatine; also used of certain American colonies (Carolina, Maryland, Maine).
palatine (adj.): mid-15c., from Middle French palatin (15c.) and directly from Medieval Latin palatinus "of the palace" (of the Caesars), from Latin palatium (see palace). Used in English to indicate quasi-royal authority. Reference to the Rhineland state is from c. 1580.
palaver (n.): 1733 (implied in palavering), "talk, conference, discussion," sailors' slang, from Portuguese palavra "word, speech, talk," traders' term for "negotiating with the natives" in West Africa, metathesis of Late Latin parabola "speech, discourse," from Latin parabola "comparison" (see parable). Meaning "idle talk" first recorded 1748. The verb is 1733, from the noun. Related: Palavering.
palazzo (n.): 1660s, from Italian palazzo (see palace).
pale (adj.): early 14c., from Old French paile "pale, light-colored" (12c., Modern French pâle), from Latin pallidus "pale, pallid, wan, colorless," from pallere "be pale, grow pale," from PIE *pel- (2) "pale" (see pallor). Pale-face, supposed North American Indian word for "European," is attested from 1822.
pale (n.): early 13c. (c. 1200 in Anglo-Latin), "stake, pole, stake for vines," from Old French pal and directly from Latin palus "stake, prop, wooden post," related to pangere "to fix or fasten" (see pact).

From late 14c. as "fence of pointed stakes;" figurative sense of "limit, boundary, restriction" is from c. 1400. Barely surviving in beyond the pale and similar phrases. Meaning "the part of Ireland under English rule" is from 1540s, via sense of "territory held by power of a nation or people" (mid-15c.).
pale (v.): late 14c., "become pale; appear pale" (also, in Middle English, "to make pale"), from Old French paleir (12c.) or from pale (adj.). Related: Paled; paling.
paleo-: before vowels pale- word-forming element used in scientific combinations (mostly since c. 1870) meaning "ancient, early, prehistoric, primitive," from Latinized form of Greek palaios "old, ancient," from palai "long ago, far back," related to palin "again, backwards," tele- "far off, at a distance," from PIE root *kwel- (2) "far" in space and time" (see tele-).
Paleocene (adj.): in reference to the geological epoch preceding the Eocene, 1877, from French paléocène (Schimpter, 1874), coined from paleo- + Greek kainos "new" (see recent). It is, thus, the "old new" age.
paleoclimatology (n.): also paleo-climatology, 1920, from paleo- + climatology. Related: Paleoclimatologist.
paleolithic (adj.): of or pertaining to the Earlier Stone Age (opposed to neolithic), 1865, coined by John Lubbock, later Baron Avebury (1834-1913), from paleo- + Greek lithos "stone" + -ic.
paleontologist (n.): 1836, from paleontology + -ist.
paleontology (n.): 1833, probably from French paléontologie, from Greek palaios "old, ancient" (see paleo-) + ontologie (see ontology). Related: Paleontological.
Paleozoic (adj.): in reference to the geological era between the Precambrian and the Mesozoic, 1838, coined by Adam Sedgwick (1785-1873) from paleo- + Greek zoe "life."
Palestine: from Latin Palestina (name of a Roman province), from Greek Palaistine (Herodotus), from Hebrew Pelesheth "Philistia, land of the Philistines." Revived as an official political territorial name 1920 with the British mandate.

Under Turkish rule, Palestine was part of three administrative regions: the Vilayet of Beirut, the Independent Sanjak of Jerusalem, and the Vilayet of Damascus. In 1917 the country was conquered by British forces who held it under occupation until the mandate was established April 25, 1920, by the Supreme Council of the Allied Powers at San Remo. During the occupation Palestine formed "Occupied Enemy Territory Administration (South)," with headquarters at Jerusalem.
Palestinian: 1875 (adj.), 1905 (n.), from Palestine + -ian. Also in early use with reference to Jews who settled or advocated settling in that place.
palestra (n.): early 15c., from Old French palestre (12c.), from Latin palaestra, from Greek palaistra "gymnasium, public place for exercise," originally "wrestling school," from palaiein "to wrestle" (of unknown origin) + -tra, suffix denoting place.
palette (n.): 1620s, "flat thin tablet used by an artist to lay and mix colors," from French palette, from Old French palete "small shovel, blade" (13c.) diminutive of pale "shovel, blade," from Latin pala "spade, shoulder blade," probably from PIE *pak-slo-, from root *pag- (see pact). Transferred sense of "colors used by a particular artist" is from 1882.
palfrey (n.): c. 1200 (mid-12c. as a surname), "saddle horse for ordinary riding (opposed to a war horse), small horse for ladies," from Old French palefroi (11c.) and directly from Medieval Latin palafredus, altered by dissimilation from Late Latin paraveredus "post horse for outlying districts" (6c.), originally "extra horse," from Greek para "beside, secondary" (see para-) + Latin veredus "post horse; light, fast horse used by couriers," from Gaulish *voredos, from Celtic *wo-red- (source also of Welsh gorwydd "horse," Old Irish riadaim "I ride"), from PIE root *reidh- "to ride" (see ride (v.)). The Latin word passed to Old High German as pfarifrid, where in modern German it has become the usual word for "horse" (Pferd).
Pali: 1690s, Middle High Indian dialect used in sacred Buddhist writings (the lingua franca of northern India from c. 6c. B.C.E.-2c. B.C.E.), from Sanskrit Pali, from pali bhasa "language of the canonical books," from pali "line, role, canon" + bhasa "language."
palimony (n.): 1979, coined from pal (n.) + alimony. Popularized, if not introduced, during lawsuit against U.S. film star Lee Marvin (1924-1987).
palimpsest (n.): "parchment from which earlier writing has been removed to clear it for new writing," 1660s, from Latin palimpsestus, from Greek palimpsestos "scraped again," from palin "again" (see palindrome) + verbal adjective of psen "to rub smooth" (of uncertain origin).
palindrome (n.): "line that reads the same backward and forward," 1620s, from Greek palindromos "a recurrence," literally "a running back." Second element is dromos "a running" (see dromedary); first is palin "again, back," from PIE *kwle-i-, from root *kwel- (1) forming words to do with turning, rolling, and wheels (see cycle (n.)), here with notion of "revolving." PIE *kw- becomes Greek p- before some vowels. Related: Palindromic.
palinode (n.): 1590s, from Middle French palinod (16c.) or directly from Latin palinodia, from Greek palinoidia "poetic retraction," from palin "again, back" (see palindrome) + oide "song" (see ode). Related: Palinodic.
palisade (n.): "a fence of stakes," c. 1600, from Middle French palissade (15c.), from Provençal palissada, from palissa "a stake or paling," from Gallo-Roman *palicea, from Latin palus "stake" (see pale (n.)). Military sense is attested from 1690s. The Palisades, along the Hudson River opposite New York City, so called by 1823.
pall (n.): Old English pæll "rich cloth or cloak, purple robe, altar cloth," from Latin pallium "cloak, coverlet, covering," in Tertullian, the garment worn by Christians instead of the Roman toga; related to pallo "robe, cloak," palla "long upper garment of Roman women," perhaps from the root of pellis "skin." Notion of "cloth spread over a coffin" (mid-15c.) led to figurative sense of "dark, gloomy mood" (1742).
pall (v.): "become tiresome," 1700, from Middle English pallen "to become faint, fail in strength" (late 14c.), shortened form of appallen "to dismay, fill with horror or disgust" (see appall). Related: Palled; palling.
pall-mall: see mall.
Palladian (adj.): 1731, "in the style of Roman architect Andrea Palladio" (1518-1580).
palladium (n.1): "safeguard," c. 1600, originally (late 14c.) "sacred image of Pallas Athene," from Latin palladium, from Greek Palladion, noun use of neuter of Palladios "of Pallas." It stood in the citadel of Troy and the safety of the city was believed to depend on it.
palladium (n.2): metallic element, coined 1803 by discoverer William Hyde Wollaston (1766-1828), from Pallas, name of an asteroid discovered the previous year (by German astronomer Olbers) and named for the goddess (see Pallas).
Pallas: Greek goddess' name, literally "little maiden," related to pallake "concubine," and probably somehow connected to Avestan pairika "beautiful women seducing pious men."
pallbearer (n.): also pall-bearer, 1707, from pall (n.) + agent noun of bear (v.). Originally one who holds the corners of the pall at a funeral.
pallet (n.1): "mattress," late 14c., from Anglo-French paillete "straw, bundle of straw," Old French paillet "chaff, bundle of straw," from paille "straw" (12c.), from Latin palea "chaff," perhaps cognate with Sanskrit palavah, Old Church Slavonic pleva, Russian peleva, Lithuanian pelus.
pallet (n.2): "flat wooden blade" used as a tool by potters, etc., early 15c., from Middle French palette, diminutive of pale "spade, shovel" (see palette). Meaning "large portable tray" used with a forklift for moving loads is from 1921.
palliard (n.): late 15c., "vagabond or beggar" (who sleeps on straw in barns), from Middle French paillard, from Old French paillart "tramp, beggar, vagabond" (13c.), from paille "straw" (see pallet (n.1); also see -ard).
palliate (v.): "alleviate without curing," early 15c., from Medieval Latin palliatus, literally "cloaked," from past participle of Late Latin palliare "cover with a cloak, conceal," from Latin pallium "cloak" (see pall (n.)). Related: Palliated; palliating; palliation.