Part 30

Pal*mette" (?), n. [F., dim. of palme a palm.] A floral ornament, common in Greek and other ancient architecture; -- often called the honeysuckle ornament.

Pal*met"to (?), n. [Dim. of palm the tree: cf. Sp. palmito.] (Bot.) A name given to palms of several genera and species growing in the West Indies and the Southern United States. In the United States, the name is applied especially to the ChamÊrops, or Sabal, Palmetto, the cabbage tree of Florida and the Carolinas. See Cabbage tree, under Cabbage.

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Royal palmetto, the West Indian Sabal umbraculifera, the trunk of which, when hollowed, is used for water pipes, etc. The leaves are used for thatching, and for making hats, ropes, etc. -- Saw palmetto, Sabal serrulata, a native of Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida. The nearly impassable jungle which it forms is called palmetto scrub.

Pal"mic (?), a. [Cf. F. palmique.] (Chem.) Of, pertaining to, or derived from, the castor-oil plant (Ricinus communis, or Palma Christi); -- formerly used to designate an acid now called ricinoleic acid. [Obsoles.]

||Pal`mi*dac"ty*les (?), n. pl. [NL. See Palm, and Dactyl.] (Zoˆl.) A ||group of wading birds having the toes webbed, as the avocet.

Pal*mif"er*ous (?), a.[L. palmifer; palma a palm + ferre to bear: cf. F. palmifËre.] Bearing palms.

Pal"mi*grade (?), a. [L. palma palm of the hand + gradi to walk.] (Zoˆl.) Putting the whole foot upon the ground in walking, as some mammals.

Pal"min (?), n. [From palma Christi: cf. F. palmine.] (Chem.) (a) A white waxy or fatty substance obtained from castor oil. (b) Ricinolein. [Obs.]

Pal"mi*ped (?), a.[L. palmipes, -edis, broad-footed; palma the palm of the hand + pes a foot; cf. F. palmipËde.] (Zoˆl.) Web-footed, as a water fowl. -- n. A swimming bird; a bird having webbed feet.

||Pal*mip"e*des (?), n. pl. [NL.] (Zoˆl.) Same as Natatores.

Pal"mis*ter (?), n. [From Palm of the hand.] One who practices palmistry Bp. Hall.

Pal`mis*try (?), n.[See Palmister.] 1. The art or practice of divining or telling fortunes, or of judging of character, by the lines and marks in the palm of the hand; chiromancy. Ascham. Cowper.

2. A dexterous use or trick of the hand. Addison.

Pal"mi*tate (?), n. (Chem.) A salt of palmitic acid.

Pal"mite (?), n. [From Palm.] (Bot.) A South African plant (Prionium Palmita) of the Rush family, having long serrated leaves. The stems have been used for making brushes.

Pal*mit"ic (?), a. (Physiol. Chem.) Pertaining to, or obtained from, palmitin or palm oil; as, palmitic acid, a white crystalline body belonging to the fatty acid series. It is readily soluble in hot alcohol, and melts to a liquid oil at 62∞ C.

Pal"mi*tin (?), n. [So called because abundant in palm oil.] (Physiol. Chem.) A solid crystallizable fat, found abundantly in animals and in vegetables. It occurs mixed with stearin and olein in the fat of animal tissues, with olein and butyrin in butter, with olein in olive oil, etc. Chemically, it is a glyceride of palmitic acid, three molecules of palmitic acid being united to one molecule of glyceryl, and hence it is technically called tripalmitin, or glyceryl tripalmitate.

Pal`mi*tol"ic (?), a. [Palmitic + -oleic + ic.] (Chem.) Pertaining to, or designating, an artificial acid of the oleic acid series, isomeric with linoleic acid.

Pal"mi*tone (?), n. (Chem.) The ketone of palmitic acid.

Palm" Sun`day (?). (Eccl.) The Sunday next before Easter; -- so called in commemoration of our Savior's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, when the multitude strewed palm branches in the way.

Palm"y (?), a. 1. Bearing palms; abounding in palms; derived from palms; as, a palmy shore. Pope.

His golden sands and palmy wine.

Goldsmith.

2. Worthy of the palm; flourishing; prosperous.

In the most high and palmy state of Rome.

Shak.

Pal*my"ra (?), n. (Bot.) A species of palm (Borassus flabelliformis) having a straight, black, upright trunk, with palmate leaves. It is found native along the entire northern shores of the Indian Ocean, from the mouth of the Tigris to New Guinea. More than eight hundred uses to which it is put are enumerated by native writers. Its wood is largely used for building purposes; its fruit and roots serve for food, its sap for making toddy, and its leaves for thatching huts.