PALM

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Old English, from Latin ~a ~ of the hand, ~ tree; from the resemblance of the tree's leaves to the outstretched hand; akin to Greek palamē ~ of the hand, Old English folm, Old Irish lám hand Date: before 12th century any of a family (Palmae syn. Arecaceae) of mostly tropical or subtropical monocotyledonous trees, shrubs, or vines with usually a simple stem and a terminal crown of large pinnate or fan-shaped leaves, a leaf of the ~ as a symbol of victory or rejoicing, a symbol of triumph or superiority, an addition to a military decoration in the form of a ~ frond especially to indicate a second award of the basic decoration, ~like adjective II. noun Etymology: Middle English paume, ~e, from Anglo-French, from Latin ~a Date: 14th century the somewhat concave part of the human hand between the bases of the fingers and the wrist or the corresponding part of the forefoot of a lower mammal, a flat expanded part especially at the end of a base or stalk (as of an anchor), a unit of length based on the breadth or length of the hand, something (as a part of a glove) that covers the ~ of the hand, an act of ~ing (as of cards), III. transitive verb Date: 1673 1. to conceal in or with the hand , to take or pick up stealthily, to hand stealthily , to impose by fraud , to touch with the ~: as, to stroke with the ~ or hand, to allow (a basketball) to come to rest momentarily in the hand while dribbling thus committing a violation