"P" Word Origins

Pan

Old English

From Old English panne, the same root that gives us "pancake" and "saucepan."

panacea

Greek

From Greek "panakeia," a universal remedy, from "pan-" (all) plus "akos" (cure). Panacea was also the Greek goddess of healing.

panache

French

From French panache, originally "a plume of feathers" worn on a helmet, from Italian pennacchio — the flashy plume gave rise to the modern sense of stylish flair.

Panama

Origin

Named after Panama, the Central American country, because the hats became widely known internationally after being sold to workers building the Panama Canal — even though they are traditionally made in Ecuador.

pancake

Origin · 1400

A straightforward compound of "pan" and "cake," describing a cake cooked flat in a frying pan — in use since at least the 15th century.

panchayat

Sanskrit

From Hindi panchayat, originally meaning "a council of five," from Sanskrit roots referring to a group of respected village elders who settled disputes.

pancreas

Greek

From Greek pankreas, literally "all flesh" (pan- "all" + kreas "flesh"), likely so named because the organ appeared to be made entirely of soft tissue with no bone or cartilage.

panda

French · 1800

Borrowed into English in the 19th century, likely via French from a Nepali or related Himalayan word originally used for the red panda, later extended to the more famous giant panda.

pandar

Origin

From Chaucer’s character Pandare (in Troilus and Criseyde), from Italian Pandaro (found in Boccaccio), from Latin Pandarus, from Ancient Greek Πάνδαρος (Pándaros). (See also Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida.)

pandect

Origin

Sense 3 (“comprehensive treatise”) is from Latin pandectēs (“book that contains everything, encyclopedia”), from Ancient Greek πανδέκτης (pandéktēs, “encyclopedia”, literally “all-receiver”), from παν- (pan-, prefix meaning ‘all’) (from πᾶς (pâs, “all”)) + δέκτης (déktēs, “receiver, recipient”) (from δέχομαι (dékhomai, “to receive”) (from Proto-Indo-European *deḱ- (“to take; to perceive”)) + -της (-tēs, suffix forming agent nouns)). Sense 1 (“compendium of writings on Roman law”) in the plural form Pandects is from Late Latin pandectae (“the Pandects”), the plural of pandectēs, modelled after (Byzantine) Ancient Greek πανδέκται (pandéktai, “the Pandects”), the plural of πανδέκτης (pandéktēs): see further above.

pandemic

Greek

From Greek pandemos, "of all the people" (pan- "all" + demos "the people"), combined with the adjective-forming suffix "-ic."

pandemonium

Late Latin · 1667

Coined by the poet John Milton in Paradise Lost (1667) as the name of the capital of Hell, from Greek pan- ("all") + Late Latin daemonium ("demon") — literally "place of all demons." The word later came to mean any scene of chaos and uproar.

pander

Origin

From Pandare, a character in Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde who arranges the love affair between the two title characters — his name became a generic word for someone who enables others' desires.

pandit

Sanskrit

From Sanskrit paṇḍita, meaning "learned one" — a doublet of the English word "pundit."

Pandora

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek Pandōra, literally "all-gifted" or "all gifts," from pan- ("all") + dōron ("gift").

Pandu

Sanskrit

Transliteration of Sanskrit पाण्डु (pāṇḍu).

pane

Latin

From Old French pan, ultimately from Latin pannus ("cloth") — a distant relative of "pane" in the fabric sense once meant a piece of material before it settled on glass.

panegyric

Origin

From French panégyrique, from Ancient Greek πανηγυρικός (panēgurikós).

panel

Vulgar Latin

From Old French panel/panelle ("piece of cloth, cushion"), from Vulgar Latin pannellus, a diminutive of Latin pannus ("cloth"). A doublet of "vane."

panentheism

Origin

Borrowed from German Panentheismus, coined by Karl Christian Friedrich Krause in 1828 from Ancient Greek πᾶν ἐν θεῷ (pân en theōî, “all in god”) + -ismus (“-ism”).

pang

Middle English

Origin uncertain — possibly an altered form of Middle English "prange," related to words for gripping or pinching pain, and possibly connected to "prong."

panga

Origin

Borrowed from Swahili panga (“machete”).

panglossian

Origin

Pangloss (a character in Voltaire's Candide) + -ian

pangolin

Origin

Borrowed from Malay pengguling, from peng- (“denominative prefix”) + guling (“to roll”).

panhandle

Origin

Formed from "pan" + "handle" — the geographic sense compares a thin protruding strip of land to the handle of a cooking pan.

panhandler

Origin

Obscure. Speculative. Panhandling always seems to involve a container for receiving loose change, so perhaps the term refers to a small handled pan, or to the container as the pan and the arm(s) holding it as the handle. Alternatively, possibly from the notion that the shape of one's outstretched arm in relation to a seated or squatting beggar brings to mind the image of a panhandle.

panic

Greek

From Greek panikós, "of Pan" — the god Pan was believed to cause sudden, unexplained terror in crowds and animals in lonely places.

panicked

Origin

From "panic" + the past-tense ending "-ed."

panicky

Origin

From "panic" + the adjective-forming suffix "-y."

panini

Italian

Borrowed from Italian panini, the plural of panino ("little bread roll").

panisse

French

From French panisse, a specialty of the Provence and Nice regions.

panjandrum

Origin

Coined as a nonce word in the 18th century by British dramatist Samuel Foote.

pannier

Origin

From Middle English panere, panȝere, panyere, from Old French panier, paniere, from Latin pānārium (“a bread basket”), from pānis (“bread”). Doublet of panary.

panning

German

Borrowed from German Panning.

panorama

Greek · 1792

Coined in 1792 by painter Robert Barker from Greek pan- ("all") + horama ("view"), to describe his sweeping circular paintings.

panoramic

Origin

From "panorama" + the adjective suffix "-ic."

pansified

Origin

From pansy + -fy + -ed.

pansy

Middle French

From Middle French pensée ("thought"), because the flower's drooping head was fancied to look like someone deep in thought.

pant

Old French

From Middle English panten, possibly from Old French pantoisier ("to be breathless"), of uncertain deeper origin.

pantagruelian

Origin

From François Rabelais' character Pantagruel, + -ian.

pantalettes

Origin

From pantal(oon) + -ette + -s.

pantheism

Origin

From pan- + theism, in which pan derives from Ancient Greek πᾶν (pân), meaning “all”, and theism from Ancient Greek θεός (theós), meaning “god”. The first known use is from 1702, in an English translation of Joseph Raphson’s 1697 book De Spatio Reali seu Ente Infinito, written in Latin, which coined the Latin term pantheismus.

pantheon

Greek

From "Pantheon," the name of the Roman temple built to honour all the gods, ultimately from Greek pan- ("all") + theos ("god").

panther

Latin

From Old French pantere, from Latin panthēra, from Greek pánthēr ("panther").

pantomime

Latin

From Latin pantomimus, from Greek pantómimos ("imitator of all"), from pas ("all") + mimeomai ("to mimic").

pantry

Latin

From Old French paneterie, related to Latin panis ("bread") — originally a room specifically for storing bread.

pants

Italian

Shortened from "pantaloons," itself from the Italian stock character Pantalone, known for wearing tight trousers.

pantsuit

Origin

A blend of "pant" and "suit."