palm (redirected from holding in the palm of hand)

palm, common name for members of the Palmae, a large family of chiefly tropical trees, shrubs, and vines. Most species are treelike, characterized by a crown of compound leaves, called fronds, terminating a tall, woody, unbranched stem. The fruits, covered with a tough fleshy, fibrous, or leathery outer layer, usually contain a large amount of endosperm in the seed (stored food). Although the palms are of limited use in the United States and other temperate areas, their economic importance in the tropical regions can exceed that of the grasses. Members of the family often furnish food, shelter, clothing, and other necessities of life for entire populations; an ancient Hindu song about the Palmyra palm (Borassus flabelliformis) of India enumerates 801 uses for the plant. Among the most important palms providing food and other products are the coconut, date, and sago. Palm sugar (jaggery) is obtained from the sap of several palms, e.g., species of Phoenix, Cocos, Arenga (in India), and Raphia (in Africa). Palm toddy, or wine, is made especially in Africa and Southeast Asia. The fruit of the betel palm provides the world's most-used masticatory. Carnauba wax is obtained from a Brazilian species. Among the important palm fibers are raffia and rattan. Daemonorops draco yields dragon's blood, a resin. Another palm-fruit product, tagua, is used as a substitute for ivory. Species native to the United States include the tall royal palm of Florida and Cuba (usually Roystonea regia in Florida) and the California fan palm (Washingtonia filifera) of the Southwest and Mexico, much planted as an avenue ornamental. The palmetto palm is the characteristic underbrush plant of the SE United States. Cabbage palm is a name applied to several species whose young heads of tender leaves are cooked as vegetables; these include the coconut palm, a royal palm (R. oleracea), and the cabbage palmetto (Sabal palmetto). The largest known plant seed, enclosed in a fruit weighing up to 40 lb (18 kg), is borne by Lodoicea maldivica, a palm of the Seychelles, variously called the Seychelles nut palm, the coco-de-mer, or the double coconut. The talipot palm, Corypha umbraculifera, has leaf blades that may be up to 16 ft (4.9 m) across and the largest compound inflorescence, or flowerhead, in the plant kingdom.

Palm oil is the fat pressed from the fibrous flesh of the fruit of many palms, principally the coconut palm, the African oil palm (Elaeis guineensis), the peach palm (Bactris gasipaes), the babassu palm (Orbignya species, especially O. phalerata), and other South American species. Commercial palm oils are used for soaps and candles, lubricants, margarine, fuel, feed (chiefly the caked residue remaining after the oil has been expressed), and many other purposes. In the tropics much of the palm oil produced (often by crude extraction methods) is consumed locally. The total output of palm oil equals that of all other nondrying oils combined. The palm family is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Liliopsida, order Arecales.

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palm

Royal palm (Roystonea regia).

(credit: E.R. Degginger/EB Inc.)

Any of about 2,800 species of flowering, subtropical trees, shrubs, and vines that make up the family Arecaceae (or Palmae). Many are economically important. Palms furnish food, shelter, clothing, timber, fuel, building materials, fibres, starch, oils, waxes, and wines for local populations in the tropics. Many species have very limited ranges; some grow only on single islands. The fast growth and many by-products of palms make exploitation of the rainforest appealing to agribusiness. The usually tall, unbranched, columnar trunk is crowned by a tuft of large, pleated, fan- or feather-shaped leaves, with often prickly petioles (leafstalks), the bases of which remain after leaves drop, often covering the trunk. Trunk height and diameter, leaf length, and seed size vary greatly. Small flowers are produced in large clusters. Among the most important palms are the sugar palm (Arenga pinnata, or A. saccharifera), coconut palm, date palm, and cabbage palmetto.

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Palm

A personal digital assistant (PDA) from Palm, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA (www.palm.com). The first Palm devices were the PalmPilot 1000 and 5000 introduced in early 1996, which sold more than 350,000 units by year end. Although the "Pilot" name was later dropped, it was so catchy that many people refer to all Palm organizers and even non-Palm PDAs as PalmPilots.

The Palm devices popularized the pen interface and handwriting recognition (first called "Graffiti") that was pioneered by Apple with its Newton a couple years earlier (see Newton).

In 2003, the company divided itself into independent hardware and software businesses named palmOne and PalmSource. The hardware company, palmOne, later changed back to Palm, produces the company's handheld PDAs and smartphones, including the Treo brand, acquired from Handspring, Inc. in 2003.

The Software Platform
PalmSource, Inc. was set up to license the Palm OS platform, which includes the operating system and HotSync technology that synchronizes data between handheld and desktop machine. Running on a variety of CPUs from Motorola, Intel, TI and ARM, the Palm OS has been used in more than 40 million handhelds and smartphones worldwide. In 2005, PalmSource became a wholly owned subsidiary of Japan-based ACCESS Co., LTD. By the end of 2006, the parent rebranded PalmSource to ACCESS Systems Americas. For more information, visit www.access-company.com. See PDA.

The PalmPilot

PalmPilot popularized the personal digital assistant (PDA), which has become ubiquitous all over the world. The rectangle at the bottom is for hand printing. (Image courtesy of palmOne, Inc.)

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palm¹

1. the inner part of the hand from the wrist to the base of the fingers

2. a corresponding part in animals, esp apes and monkeys

3. a linear measure based on the breadth or length of a hand, equal to three to four inches or seven to ten inches respectively

4. a hard leather shield worn by sailmakers to protect the palm of the hand

5. 

a. the side of the blade of an oar that faces away from the direction of a boat's movement during a stroke

b. the face of the fluke of an anchor

6. a flattened or expanded part of the antlers of certain deer

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palm²

any treelike plant of the tropical and subtropical monocotyledonous family Arecaceae (formerly Palmae or Palmaceae), usually having a straight unbranched trunk crowned with large pinnate or palmate leaves

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palm [päm]

(anatomy)

The flexor or volar surface of the hand.

(botany)

Any member of the monocotyledonous family Arecaceae; most are trees with a slender, unbranched trunk and a terminal crown of large leaves that are folded between the veins.

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palm

appeared on martyrs’ graves. [Christian Symbolism: Appleton, 73]

See : Martyrdom

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palm

sign of triumph. [N. T.: Revelation 7:9]

See : Victory