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pall-mall

(pĕlmĕl, pălmăl, pôlmôl)

1. A game of the 1600s in which a boxwood ball was struck with a mallet to drive it through an iron ring suspended at the end of an alley.

2. The alley in which this game was played.

[Obsolete French pallemaille, from Italian pallamaglio : palla, ball (of Germanic origin; see bhel-² in the Appendix of Indo-European roots) + maglio, mallet (from Latin malleus; see melə- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots).]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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