What does "pall" mean?
Senses relating to cloth.; Fine cloth, especially purple cloth used for robes.
Pall
/pɔːl/ name, noun, verb
name, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Senses relating to cloth.; Fine cloth, especially purple cloth used for robes.
- Grammar: pall is listed as name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: shroud, allay, bamboo curtain, barrier of secrecy.
- Useful contrasts: brighten, brightness, cheer.
- Usage evidence: A pall of darkness cloaked the valley.
How to use "pall"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "pall" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "pall" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "pall" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "pall" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
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- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "pall" is acting as name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "shroud" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
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Final meaning check
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When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Senses relating to cloth.; Fine cloth, especially purple cloth used for robes. archaic, poetic
- 2 A feeling of nausea caused by disgust or overindulgence. obsolete, rare
"Tho the Impatience of abſtaining be greater; the Pleaſure of Indulgence is really leſs. The Palls or Nauseatings which continually intervene, are of the worſt and moſt hateful kind of Senſation. Hardly is there any thing taſted which is wholly free from this ill reliſh of a ſurfeited Senſe and ruin'd Appetite."
- 3 Alternative form of pawl. alt-of, alternative
- 4 hanging cloth used as a blind (especially for a window) wordnet
- 5 Senses relating to cloth.; A heavy cloth laid over a coffin or tomb; a shroud laid over a corpse.
"After his death he [Diocletian] remained corporeally in possession of the palace, his tomb resting in the centre of the mausoleum. Thirty years or so later, a woman was put to death for stealing the purple pall from his sarcophagus, a strange, crazy crime, […]"
Show 8 more definitions
- 6 burial garment in which a corpse is wrapped wordnet
- 7 Senses relating to cloth.; A piece of cardboard, covered with linen and embroidered on one side, used to cover the chalice during the Eucharist.
- 8 a sudden numbing dread wordnet
- 9 Senses relating to cloth.; A cloth used for various purposes on the altar in a church, such as a corporal (“cloth on which elements of the Eucharist are placed”) or frontal (“drapery covering the front of an altar”). obsolete
- 10 Senses relating to clothing.; An outer garment; a cloak, mantle, or robe. archaic
"In a long purple pall, whose ſkirt with gold, / Was fretted all about, ſhe was arayd, […]"
- 11 Senses relating to clothing.; Something that covers or surrounds like a cloak; in particular, a cloud of dust, smoke, etc., or a feeling of fear, gloom, or suspicion. figuratively
"The early election results cast a pall over what was supposed to be a celebration."
- 12 Senses relating to clothing.; Especially in Roman Catholicism: a pallium (“liturgical vestment worn over the chasuble”).
"By the way, a pall is a pontifical vestment, considerable for the matter, making, and mysteries thereof. […] But, to speak plainly, the mystery of mysteries in this pall was, that the archbishops' receiving it showed therein their dependence on Rome; and a mote, in this manner ceremoniously taken, was an acknowledgement of their subjection. And as it owned Rome's power, so in after-ages it increased their profit. For, though now such palls were freely given to archbishops, […] yet in after-ages the archbishop of Canterbury's pall was sold for five thousand florins: […]"
- 13 Senses relating to clothing.; A charge representing an archbishop's pallium, having the form of the letter Y, sometimes charged with crosses.
"The flag of South Africa has a green pall"
Verb
- 1 To cloak or cover with, or as if with, a pall. transitive
"Come, thick Night, / And pall thee in the dunneſt ſmoake of Hell, / That my keene Knife ſee not the Wound it makes, / Nor Heauen peepe through the Blanket of the darke, / To cry, hold, hold."
- 2 To make vapid or insipid; to make lifeless or spiritless; to dull, to weaken. transitive
"[…] Reaſon and Reflection, which by repreſenting perpetually to the mind of Man the meanneſs of all ſenſual Gratifications, do, in great meaſure, blunt the edge of his keeneſt Deſires, and pall all his Enjoyments."
- 3 Alternative form of pawl. alt-of, alternative
- 4 lose interest or become bored with something or somebody wordnet
- 5 To become dull, insipid, tasteless, or vapid; to lose life, spirit, strength, or taste. intransitive
"The liquor palls."
Show 7 more definitions
- 6 lose strength or effectiveness; become or appear boring, insipid, or tiresome (to) wordnet
- 7 become less interesting or attractive wordnet
- 8 lose sparkle or bouquet wordnet
- 9 cause to become flat wordnet
- 10 cause surfeit through excess though initially pleasing wordnet
- 11 cover with a pall wordnet
- 12 cause to lose courage; to be daunted; to be scared away wordnet
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"A pall of darkness cloaked the valley."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "pall"?
Common synonyms include: shroud, allay, bamboo curtain, barrier of secrecy, be infinitely repetitive, be tedious.
How do you use "pall" in a sentence?
A pall of darkness cloaked the valley.
How do you pronounce "pall"?
Pronounced /pɔːl/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English pal, palle, from Old English pæl, pæll, from Old French paile and Latin pallium (“cloak; covering”) (and thus a doublet of pallium), probably from palla (“piece of cloth worn as apparel”) (possibly from Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“to cover, wrap; hide, skin; cloth”)) + -ium (suffix forming abstract nouns).
Etymology 2
From the noun pall (“cloth”).
Etymology 3
Formed by aphesis from appal, appall (“(obsolete) to make pale; to weaken; to become weak; to lose flavour or become stale”), possibly under the influence of the figurative meaning of the unrelated noun pall. Alternatively, the word may be derived from Middle English pallen (“to diminish, impair, weaken; to become faint; to lose spirit”), formed by aphesis from apallen (“to become or make faint or tired; to become indifferent; to fade or cause to fade away; to dim, weaken; to become stale; to be frightened; to frighten; to become pale”), from Old French apalir (“to become or cause to become pale”), possibly from Latin pallidus (“pale, pallid; pale with fright, frightened; mouldy, musty”), from palleō (“to be pale, turn pale; to be anxious or fearful; to fade or change colour”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pel-, *pelH- (“grey; pale”)) + -idus (suffix meaning ‘tending to’ forming adjectives).
Etymology 4
From the verb pall (“to make vapid”).
Etymology 5
Various origins: * Borrowed from Hungarian Páll, a variant of Pál. * Borrowed from Telugu పాల్ (pāl), a rendition of the personal name Paul.