pal

pal  (pl) Informal

n.

A friend; a chum.

intr.v. palled, pal·ling, pals

To associate as friends or chums. Often used with around.

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[Romany phral, phal, from Sanskrit bhrt, bhrtr-, brother; see bhrter- in Indo-European roots.]

Word History: Pal, like buddy and chum, has an informal, thoroughly "American" ring to it. Its source, though, is rather unusualRomany, the Indic language of the Gypsies. First recorded in English in the 17th century, pal was borrowed from a Romany word meaning "brother, comrade," which occurs as phal in the Romany spoken in England and phral in the Romany spoken in Europe. Gypsies speak an Indic language because they originally migrated to Europe from the border region between Iran and India. In other Indic languages we find related words meaning "brother," such as Hindustani bhi and Prakrit bhda or bhy; they all come from Sanskrit bhrt, which in turn traces its ancestry to the same Indo-European word that our word brother does.

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pal Informal

Noun

a close friend

Verb

[palling, palled]

pal up with to become friends with [Romany: brother]

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	pal - a close friend who accompanies his buddies in their activities buddy, chum, crony, sidekick, brother cobber - Australian term for a pal friend - a person you know well and regard with affection and trust; "he was my best friend at the university"
Verb	1.	pal - become friends; act friendly towards chum up, pal up befriend - become friends with; "John and Eric soon became friends"; "Have you made friends yet in your new environment?"

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pal

noun (Informal) friend, companion, mate (informal) buddy (informal) comrade, chum (informal) crony, cock Brit. (informal) main man (slang), chiefly U.S. homeboy (slang), chiefly U.S. cobber Austral., N.Z. (old-fashioned), (informal) boon companion, E hoa N.Z.

Translations

pal [pæl] n (col) → amiguete/a m/f; colega m/f

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PAL [pæl] n abbr (TV) (= phase alternation line) → PAL m

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pal [pæl] n (inf) → copain(copine)

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PAL n abbr (TV) (= phase alternation line) → PAL nt

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pal [pæl] (inf) n (= friend) → Kumpel m, Freund(in) m(f)

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PAL [pæl] n abbr (TV) (= phase alternation line) → PAL m

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pal [pæl] n (col) → amico/a, compagno/a