Etymograph

English

pal

Pal comes from Angloromani pal ‘brother, friend’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰréh₂tēr.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰréh₂tēr1‘brother’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Iranianc. 2500–1800 BCE*bʰráHtā1‘brother’reconstructed
  3. Sanskritc. 1500–500 BCEभ्रातृ2bhrātṛ‘brother’
  4. Romanimodernphral2‘brother’
  5. Angloromanimodernpal2‘brother, friend’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1992pal2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Sanskrit भ्रातृ
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English pal
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1992, Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash: “"Mob job. The Mafia has a sample of the…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰréh₂tērWiktionary, Sanskrit भ्रातृ‘brother’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Iranianc. 2500–1800 BCE*bʰráHtāWiktionary, Sanskrit भ्रातृ‘brother’reconstructed
  3. Sanskritc. 1500–500 BCEभ्रातृWiktionary, English palbhrātṛ‘brother’
  4. RomanimodernphralWiktionary, English pal‘brother’
  5. AngloromanimodernpalWiktionary, English pal‘brother, friend’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1992palWiktionary, English pal. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1992, Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash: “"Mob job. The Mafia has a sample of the…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰréh₂tēr ‘brother’

brother, bro, fraternity, brethren, fra, friar, fraternal, frater, 11 more

through Sanskrit भ्रातृ ‘brother’

bhai, 1 more

Today it means

noun A friend, buddy, mate, cobber; someone to hang around with.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “pal”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Sanskrit भ्रातृ. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰréh₂tēr / pal

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