Etymograph

English

pallet

Pallet comes from Anglo-Norman paillete ‘bundle of straw’, from Latin palea ‘chaff’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pelh₁-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pelh₁-1‘chaff’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*palejā1‘chaff’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpalea2‘chaff’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400paille2‘straw, chaff’
  5. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400paillete2‘bundle of straw’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500paillet2
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1599pallet2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin palea
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English pallet
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1599, Thomas Nashe, Nashes Lenten Stuffe: “That good old blind bibber of Helicon I wot…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pelh₁-Wiktionary, Latin palea‘chaff’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*palejāWiktionary, Latin palea‘chaff’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpaleaWiktionary, English pallet‘chaff’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400pailleWiktionary, English pallet‘straw, chaff’
  5. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400pailleteWiktionary, English pallet‘bundle of straw’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pailletWiktionary, English pallet
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1599palletWiktionary, English pallet. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1599, Thomas Nashe, Nashes Lenten Stuffe: “That good old blind bibber of Helicon I wot…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *pelh₁- ‘chaff’

polite, 7 more

Another origin of pallet

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pĺ̥h₂seh₂‘a type of women's garment’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*palasāreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpalla‘a strip of cloth’
  4. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600pal‘pale’
  5. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600*paletreconstructed
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*paletreconstructed
  7. Englishtodaypallet

Said to be from Middle English *palet, from Middle French *palet, from Middle French pal (‘pale’), ultimately from Latin palla (‘a strip of cloth’).

Today it means

noun A bed of loose straw.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “pallet”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin palea. 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 *pelh₁- / pallet

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