Since yesterday was Palm Sunday, I thought it would be fun to look at the etymology of the word palm.
Not shockingly, it’s been in English a long time–since the 1300s. And it comes from a root that means “flat.” So in reference to the palm of the hand, it’s describing the flat part of the hand.
From there, the palm trees got their names because of the flat leaves and branches with “fingers” on them. Of course, these trees aren’t native to England, so that early knowledge of the trees mostly came thanks to the story of Palm Sunday.
Why palms, though? Because in the ancient world, palm fronds were word on carried as a symbol of victory (much like a laurel leaf crown).
Did you attend a Palm Sunday service yesterday?
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Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two kids, editing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary. 
