Note: In Greece, the palm was reckoned at three inches. The Romans adopted two measures of this name, the lesser palm of 2.91 inches, and the greater palm of 8.73 inches. At the present day, this measure varies in the most arbitrary manner, being different in each country, and occasionally varying in the same. Internat. Cyc.
3. (Sailmaking)
Defn: A metallic disk, attached to a strap, and worn the palm of the hand, — used to push the needle through the canvas, in sewing sails, etc.
4. (Zoöl.)
Defn: The broad flattened part of an antler, as of a full-grown fallow deer; — so called as resembling the palm of the hand with its protruding fingers.
5. (Naut.)
Defn: The flat inner face of an anchor fluke.
PALM Palm, n. Etym: [AS. palm, L. palma; — so named fr. the leaf resembling a hand. See lst Palm, and cf. Pam.]
1. (Bot.)
Defn: Any endogenous tree of the order Palmæ or Palmaceæ; a palm tree.