From Proto-Italic *palejā (“chaff”), from Proto-Indo-European *pelh₁- (“chaff”); the original meaning of the Proto-Indo-European appears to be "to swing", with the "chaff" meaning being a semantic extension from "to swing" > "to thresh corn" > "the chaff separated from the fruit by threshing action". Cognate with Sanskrit पलाव (palā́va, “chaff”), Old Church Slavonic плева (pleva), Russian полова (polova), Lithuanian pelūs, Ancient Greek πάλλω (pállō, “to swing, sway”). See also pulvis (“powder”).