palmer

¹ American  

[pah-mer, pahl-] / ˈpɑ mər, ˈpɑl- /

noun

1. a pilgrim, especially of the Middle Ages, who had returned from the Holy Land bearing a palm branch as a token.

2. any religious pilgrim.

3. palmerworm.

---

verb (used without object)

1. Scot. and North England. to wander; go idly from place to place.

palmer ² American  

[pah-mer] / ˈpɑ mər /

noun

1. a person who palms a card, die, or other object, as in cheating at a game or performing a magic trick.

---

Palmer ³ American  

[pah-mer, pahl-] / ˈpɑ mər, ˈpɑl- /

noun

1. Alice Elvira, 1855–1902, U.S. educator.

2. Arnold, 1929–2016, U.S. golfer.

3. Daniel David, 1845–1913, Canadian originator of chiropractic medicine.

4. George Herbert, 1842–1933, U.S. educator, philosopher, and author.

5. James Alvin Jim, born 1945, U.S. baseball player.

6. a town in southern Massachusetts.

---

palmer ¹ British  

/ ˈpɑːmə /

noun

1. (in Medieval Europe) a pilgrim bearing a palm branch as a sign of his visit to the Holy Land

2. (in Medieval Europe) an itinerant monk

3. (in Medieval Europe) any pilgrim

4. any of various artificial angling flies characterized by hackles around the length of the body

---

Palmer ² British  

/ ˈpɑːmə /

noun

1. Arnold. born 1929, US professional golfer: winner of seven major championships, including four in the US Masters (1958, 1960, 1962, 1964) and two in the British Open (1961,1962)

2. Samuel. 1805–81, English painter of visionary landscapes, influenced by William Blake

---

Etymology

Origin of palmer¹

1250–1300; Middle English palmer ( e ) < Anglo-French palmer, Old French palmier < Medieval Latin palmārius, special use of Latin palmārius palmary

Origin of palmer²

First recorded in 1665–75; palm ¹ + -er ¹

Example Sentences

Heavy use of longstanding herbicides, like glyphosate, the main ingredient in Bayer’s Roundup, has contributed to resistance developing among weeds such as waterhemp and palmer amaranth.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 6, 2026

Another palmer was still in the shielded compartment, but Adda’s aim wasn’t much better than Pel’s.

From The Verge • Sep. 13, 2018

Sloane fitted a palmer on over one armored glove, with the bowl shape facing outward, then gripped a handhold in the passthrough wall.

From The Verge • Sep. 13, 2018

I think of a palmer as a pilgrim, bringing a palm from the Holy Land.

From Washington Post • Oct. 2, 2015

After the palmer perhaps there would have prowled a rather more sinister figure: one of those who “sleep by day and watch by night, eat well and drink well, but possess nothing.”

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White