LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · femininefirst declension

palea

palea f (genitive paleae)
Classical[ˈpa.ɫe.a]Ecclesiastical[ˈpaː.le.a]

Meaning

  1. feminineplural normallychaff
  2. feminineThe wattles or gills of a cock.
  3. femininedross
  4. femininehusk
  5. femininestraw

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativepaleapaleae
genitivepaleaepaleārum
dativepaleaepaleīs
accusativepaleampaleās
ablativepaleāpaleīs
vocativepaleapaleae

pălĕa, ae, f. kindred with Sanscr. pala, stramen; cf.: pollen, pulvis, παλύνω,
I. chaff, Varr. R. R. 1, 50 fin.: surgentem ad Zephyrum paleae jactantur inanes, Verg. G. 3, 134; Plin. 18, 30, 72, § 297; Col. 2, 9, 15; 6, 2, 3; 7, 3, 22 al.; Vulg. Matt. 3, 12.—
II. Transf.
A. Dross: palea aeris, Plin. 34, 13, 36, § 134. —
B. The wattles or gills of a cock, Varr. R. R. 3, 9, 5; Col. 8, 2, 9.—
C. Straw, Vulg. Judic. 19, 19; id. Isa. 11, 7.

Origins

From Proto-Italic *palejā (“chaff”), from Proto-Indo-European *pelh₁- (“chaff”); the original meaning of the Proto-Indo-European appears to be "to swing", with the "chaff" meaning being a semantic extension from "to swing" > "to thresh corn" > "the chaff separated from the fruit by threshing action". Cognate with Sanskrit पलाव (palā́va, “chaff”), Old Church Slavonic плева (pleva), Russian полова (polova), Lithuanian pelūs, Ancient Greek πάλλω (pállō, “to swing, sway”). See also pulvis (“powder”).

Elsewhere
  • Catalanpalla
  • Catalanpàlea
  • Frenchpaille
  • Italianpaglia
  • Occitanpalha
  • Englishpalletfrom Old French paillet
  • Portuguesepalhafrom Old Galician-Portuguese palha
  • Romanianpaie
  • Romanianpai
  • Sardinianpadha
Borrowings
  • Englishpalea

Quick answers

What does palea mean in Latin?
palea, a noun, means “chaff; The wattles or gills of a cock.; dross”.
What is the genitive of palea?
The genitive singular is paleae. palea is feminine, first declension.
How do you pronounce palea?
In classical Latin, [ˈpa.ɫe.a]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈpaː.le.a].