palm

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to take something into the palm of one's hand, usually for concealing or as part of a sleight-of-hand magic trick

   I palmed the card that the volunteer had chosen.

2. 2
   noun

   the inner surface of the hand from the wrist to the base of the fingers

   My palms were rough after handling bricks all day.

3. 3
   noun

   an award for winning a championship or commemorating some other event

   The palm was given out to the best film in the competition.

4. 4
   noun

   any plant of the family Palmae having an unbranched trunk crowned by large pinnate or palmate leaves

   There were many palms on the boulevard in California.

5. 5
   noun

   a linear unit based on the length or width of the human hand

   The statue was sixteen palms high.

6. 6
   verb

   to touch, lift, or hold with the hands

   I palmed the flowers across the table.

7. 7
   noun

   A branch or leaf of the palm, anciently borne or worn as a symbol of victory or rejoicing.

   A great multitude […] stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palmes in their hands.

8. 8
   noun

   The inner and somewhat concave part of the human hand or other primate hand that extends from the wrist to the bases of the fingers.

   [She] flung herself / Down on the great King's couch, and writhed upon it, / And clench'd her fingers till they bit the palm, / And shriek'd out 'traitor' to the unhearing wall, […]

Etymology

From Middle English palme, paume, from Old French palme, paulme, paume (“palm of the hand, ball, tennis”), from Latin palma (“palm of the hand, hand-breadth”), from Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₂(e)meh₂ (“palm of the hand”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- (“flat”). Doublet of palmo, palma, and pam. Cognate with Ancient Greek παλάμη (palámē, “palm of the hand”), Old English folm (“palm of the hand”), Old Irish lám (“hand”).