"an Irishman," 1780, slang, from the pet form of the common Irish proper name Patrick (Irish Padraig). It was in use in African-American vernacular by 1946 for any "white person." Paddy-wagon is attested by 1930, perhaps so called because many police officers were Irish. Paddywhack (1811) originally meant "an Irishman;" with the second element apparently added vaguely for emphasis.
frog genus, 2010, literally "child toad," from Greek paedo- "child" (see pedo-) + phrynē typically "toad," but occasionally "frog" (the usual Greek for "frog" was batrakhos), which is perhaps from PIE root *bher- (2) "bright; brown," or else from a local pre-Greek word. It includes Paedophryne amauensis, which was formally named 2012 and is considered the world's smallest vertebrate. The amauensis is from Amau village in Papua New Guinea, near which it was first found.
south Asian nation formed 1947 by division of British India, the name apparently proposed 1930s by Muslim students at Cambridge University, first element said to be an acronym from Punjab, Afghan Province, and Kashmir, three regions envisioned as forming the new state, which also made a play on Iranian pak "pure." For second element, see -stan. Related: Pakistani (1941).
from Latin Palestina (name of a Roman province), from Greek Palaistinē (Herodotus), from Hebrew Pelesheth "Philistia, land of the Philistines" (see Philistine). In Josephus, the country of the Philistines; extended under Roman rule to all Judea and later to Samaria and Galilee.
Revived as an official political territorial name 1920 with the British mandate. Under Turkish rule, Palestine was part of three administrative regions: the Vilayet of Beirut, the Independent Sanjak of Jerusalem, and the Vilayet of Damascus. In 1917 the country was conquered by British forces who held it under occupation until the mandate was established April 25, 1920, by the Supreme Council of the Allied Powers at San Remo. During the occupation Palestine formed "Occupied Enemy Territory Administration (South)," with headquarters at Jerusalem.
Greek goddess' name, another name for Athene, literally "little maiden," related to pallake "concubine," and probably somehow connected to Avestan pairika "beautiful women seducing pious men." The asteroid so named was discovered 1802 by Olbers and Bremen.
fem. given name, invented by Philip Sidney in "Arcadia," published in the 1590s; it is presumed to have been coined from Greek pan- "all" (before a labial pam-; see pan-) + meli "honey" (also the first element in Melissa; from PIE *melit-ya, suffixed form of root *melit- "honey") with the sense "all-sweetness," but this is conjecture. It was boosted by Samuel Richardson's novel "Pamela" (1741) but did not become popular until the 1920s; it was a top-20 name for girls born in the U.S. from 1947 to 1968.
city in Spain, Roman Pompeiopolis, named for Pompey the Great, Roman military leader who founded it 68 B.C.E.
Central American nation; the name is used of a political jurisdiction by 1530s in Spanish, probably from an unknown Guarani word, traditionally said to mean "place of many fish." Originally the name of the settlement founded 1519 (destroyed 1671 but subsequently rebuilt). Related: Panamanian. Panama hat, made from the leaves of the screw pine, is attested from 1833, a misnomer, because it originally was made in Ecuador, but perhaps so called in American English because it was distributed north from Panama City. Panama red as a variety of Central American marijuana is attested from 1967.
