Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The official residence of a royal personage.
  • noun Chiefly British The official residence of a high dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop.
  • noun A large or splendid residence.
  • noun A large, often gaudily ornate building used for entertainment or exhibitions.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The house in which an emperor, a king or queen, a bishop, or other exalted personage lives: as, an imperial palace; a royal palace; a pontifical palace; a ducal palace.
  • noun A magnificent, grand, or stately dwelling-place; a magnificent mansion or building.
  • noun An inclosed place: a yard; a landing-place inclosed by pales (see palise) or walls.
  • noun A cellar for the storing of fish.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The residence of a sovereign, including the lodgings of high officers of state, and rooms for business, as well as halls for ceremony and reception.
  • noun The official residence of a bishop or other distinguished personage.
  • noun Loosely, any unusually magnificent or stately house.
  • noun See under Car.
  • noun [Eng.] a court having jurisdiction of personal actions arising within twelve miles of the palace at Whitehall. The court was abolished in 1849.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Official residence of a head of state or other dignitary, especially in a monarchical or imperial governmental system.
  • noun A large and lavishly ornate residence.
  • noun A large, ornate public building used for entertainment or exhibitions.
  • verb archaic To decorate or ornate.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a large ornate exhibition hall
  • noun official residence of an exalted person (as a sovereign)
  • noun the governing group of a kingdom
  • noun a large and stately mansion

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old French palais, from Palātium, Palatine Hill, Rome (from its being the site where emperors built their homes), imperial residence.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English, from Old French palais, which comes from Latin palātium, from Palātium, in reference to the Palatine Hill, one of the seven hills of Rome, where the aristocracy of the Roman Republic and—later, Roman emperors—built large, splendid residences.

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