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Pal·my·ra

(păl-mīrə)

1. An ancient city of central Syria northeast of Damascus. Said to have been built by Solomon, it prospered under the Romans until it was partially destroyed by the emperor Aurelian after a people's revolt in AD 273.

2. A city of western New York southeast of Rochester on the Erie Canal. Joseph Smith founded the Mormon Church here in 1830.

pal·my·ra

(păl-mīrə)

Any of several tall fan-leaved palm trees of the genus Borassus, especially B. flabellifer of tropical Asia, valued for its sweet sap. Also called palmyra palm.

[Alteration (influenced by Palmyra) of Portuguese palmeira, from palma, palm tree, from Latin; see PALM².]

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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