palpebra

See also: pálpebra

English

Etymology

Borrowing from Latin palpebra (“an eyelid”). Compare Middle English palpebre.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpal.pɪb.ɹə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpæl.pəb.ɹə/, /pælˈpi.bɹə/
• Rhymes: -iːbɹə

Noun

palpebra (plural palpebrae or (archaic) palpebræ)

1. (anatomy) An eyelid.

Derived terms

• palpebrofrontal
• palpebronasal

Related terms

• palpebral
• palpebrate

References

• “palpebra”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “palpebra”, in Merriam-Webster.com Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Anagrams

• rappable

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern) [pəlˈpe̞.βɾə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [pəlˈpe.bɾə]
• IPA^(key): (Central) [pəlˈpe.βɾə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [palˈpe.bɾa]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [palˈpe.βɾa]

Noun

palpebra f (plural palpebres)

1. alternative form of parpella

Indonesian

Etymology

Borrowed from English palpebra, from Latin palpebra (“an eyelid”).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /palˈpəbra/ [palˈpə.bra]
• Rhymes: -əbra
• Syllabification: pal‧pe‧bra
• (Latinised) IPA^(key): /palˈpebra/ [palˈpe.bra]
• Rhymes: -ebra
• Syllabification: pal‧pe‧bra

Noun

palpebra (plural palpebra-palpebra)

1. (anatomy) palpebra

Derived terms

• edema palpebra

Further reading

• “palpebra”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Interlingua

Noun

palpebra (plural palpebras)

1. eyelid

Italian

Etymology

From Latin palpebra (“eyelid”), from palpō (“touch softly; caress, flatter”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpal.pe.bra/
• Rhymes: -alpebra
• Hyphenation: pàl‧pe‧bra

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

palpebra f (plural palpebre)

1. eyelid

Further reading

• palpebra in Collins Italian-English Dictionary
• “palpebra”, in Vocabolario Treccani on line (in Italian), Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 2026

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈpaɫ.pɛ.bra]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈpal.pe.bra]

Etymology 1

From palpō (“to touch softly; to caress, flatter”) + -bra (instrumental noun suffix).

Alternative forms

• palpebrum
• palfebra (post-classical)
• *palpetra, *palpetrum (Vulgar Latin)

Noun

palpebra f (genitive palpebrae); first declension

1. (literal, usually in the plural) an eyelid

   Synonym: cilium

2. (transferred sense, in the plural)
   1. eyelashes

      Synonym: (Medieval Latin) cilia

   2. (Ecclesiastical Latin) the eyes

      Synonym: oculī

Inflection

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	palpebra	palpebrae
genitive	palpebrae	palpebrārum
dative	palpebrae	palpebrīs
accusative	palpebram	palpebrās
ablative	palpebrā	palpebrīs
vocative	palpebra	palpebrae

Derived terms

• palpebrālis (adjective)
• palpebrāris (adjective)
• palpebrō (verb)

Related terms

• palpābilis
• palpāmen
• palpāmentum
• palpātiō
• palpātor
• palpebrātiō
• palpitātiō
• palpitātus
• palpitō
• palpō
• palpus

Descendants

Descendants

• Italo-Dalmatian:
  • Italian: palpetra, palpebra (latinized)
  • Sicilian: pàrpitra
  • Venetan: palpiera, palpera
• Rhaeto-Romance:
  • Friulian: palpiere
• Gallo-Italic:
  • Piedmontese: parpèira, parpèira, parpèra, palpèra, parpèla, parpaivre, parpaj
• Gallo-Romance:
  • Catalan: palpa, pàlpet, pàrpet, parpella, parpell, parpall, parpalla, pàrpol, parpre, pipella
  • French: paupière
  • Occitan: parpèla
    • Gascon: parpèra, perpèra
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Aragonese: parpiello
  • Asturian: párpagu, párpadu
  • Galician: perfeba, perceba, prefreba
  • Spanish: párpado
• Borrowings:
  • → Catalan: palpebra
  • → English: palpebra
  • → Esperanto: palpebro
  • → Galician: pálpebra
  • → Ido: palpebro
  • → Interlingua: palpebra
  • → Middle English: palpebre
  • → Portuguese: pálpebra
  • → Romanian: palpebră
  • → Spanish: pálpebra

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

palpebra n

1. nominative/accusative/vocative plural of palpebrum

See also

• oculus

References

• “palpebra”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “palpebra”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.