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Definition of pal - 11 dictionary results

pal

[pal] noun, verb, palled, pal⋅ling. Informal.
–noun
1. a very close, intimate friend; comrade; chum.
2. an accomplice.
–verb (used without object)
3. to associate as comrades or chums: to pal around with the kid next door.

Origin:
1675–85; < English Romany: brother, mate, dissimilated var. of continental Romany phral ≪ Skt bhrātṛ brother

PAL

[pal]
–noun
a special air service offered by the U.S. Postal Service for sending parcels from 5 to 30 lb. (2.3 to 13.5 kg) to overseas servicemen: only the regular parcel post rate to the U.S. port of shipment plus $1 is charged. Compare SAM (def. 2).

Origin:
P(arcel) A(ir) L(ift)

PAL

Police Athletic League.
Also, P.A.L.

Pal.

pal.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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pal   (pāl)   
n.  A friend; a chum.
intr.v.   palled, pal·ling, pals
To associate as friends or chums. Often used with around.

[Romany phral, phal, from Sanskrit bhrātā, bhrātr-, brother; see bhrāter- in Indo-European roots.]
Word History: Pal, like buddy and chum, has an informal, thoroughly "American" ring to it. Its source, though, is rather unusual—Romany, the Indic language of the Gypsies. First recorded in English in the 17th century, pal was borrowed from a Romany word meaning "brother, comrade," which occurs as phal in the Romany spoken in England and phral in the Romany spoken in Europe. Gypsies speak an Indic language because they originally migrated to Europe from the border region between Iran and India. In other Indic languages we find related words meaning "brother," such as Hindustani bhāi and Prakrit bhāda or bhāyā; they all come from Sanskrit bhrātā, which in turn traces its ancestry to the same Indo-European word that our word brother does.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
pal [pæl]

  1. n.
    a close, male friend or buddy. : Be nice to him. He's my pal.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

pal 
1681, from Romany (English Gypsy) pal "brother, comrade," variant of continental Romany pral, plal, phral, probably from Skt. bhrata "brother" (see brother).
"Better late than never, Pal, is a saying applicable on the present occasion." [Lord Byron, 1807]
The verb is first recorded 1879.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: PAL
Function: abbreviation
passive activity loss
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Computing Dictionary

PAL
1. Paradox Application Language.
2. For the AVANCE distributed persistent operating system.
["PAL Reference Manual", M. Ahlsen et al, SYSLAB WP-125, Stockholm 1987].
["AVANCE: An Object Management System", A. Bjornerstedt et al, SIGPLAN Notices 23(11):206-221 (OOPSLA '88) (Nov 1988)].
[What is it?]
3. An object-oriented Prolog-like language.
["Inheritance Hierarchy Mechanism in Prolog", K. Akama, Proc Logic Prog '86, LNCS 264, Springer 1986, pp. 12-21].
4. PDP Assembly Language.
5. Pedagogic Algorithmic Language.
6. Programmable Array Logic.
7. phase alternating line.
(2001-04-02)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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Abbreviations & Acronyms
PAL
  1. phase alternation line

  2. Police Athletic League

The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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