Definitions

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

  • noun Idle chatter.
  • noun Talk intended to charm or beguile.
  • noun A negotiation or discussion concerning matters in dispute, especially in the traditional cultures of West Africa.
  • intransitive verb To talk idly or at length.
  • intransitive verb Archaic To flatter or cajole.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A long talk; a parley; a conference, such as takes, place between travelers or explorers and suspicious or hostile natives; superfluous or idle talk.
  • noun Parley; conference.
  • noun Flattery; adulation; talk intended to deceive.
  • noun Synonyms and See prattle, n.
  • To talk idly or plausibly; indulge in palaver.
  • To flatter; cajole.
  • noun Business; an affair to be settled; affairs.
  • noun A dodge; a contrivance; a plot.

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

  • noun Talk; conversation; esp., idle or beguiling talk; talk intended to deceive; flattery.
  • noun In Africa, a parley with the natives; a talk; hence, a public conference and deliberation; a debate.
  • verb To make palaver with, or to; to used palaver; to talk idly or deceitfully; to employ flattery; to cajole.

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

  • noun Africa A village council meeting.
  • noun Talk, especially unnecessary talk, fuss.
  • noun A meeting at which there is much talk.
  • noun informal Disagreement
  • verb To discuss with much talk.

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

  • verb have a lengthy discussion, usually between people of different backgrounds
  • verb speak (about unimportant matters) rapidly and incessantly
  • verb influence or urge by gentle urging, caressing, or flattering
  • noun flattery intended to persuade
  • noun loud and confused and empty talk

Etymologies

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

[Portuguese palavra, speech, alteration of Late Latin parabola, speech, parable; see parable.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Originally nautical slang, from Portuguese palavra ("word"), from Late Latin parabola ("parable, speech")

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Examples

  • With all due respect, this palaver from the congressional representative is an example of the "red herrings", flawed reasoning and misguided focus prevalent within the entire debate about Health Insurance Reform.

    TX Dem: Bill without public option 'would be very, very difficult' 2009

  • And the whole Mr/Ms etc palaver is yet another bonus of having a PhD.

    Archive: Oct 08 - Mar 09 Cath@VWXYNot? 2009

  • In the world of Animal Farm, most speechifying and public palaver is bullshit and instigated lying, and though many characters are good-hearted and mean well, they can be frightened into closing their eyes to what's really going on.

    Orwell and me 2003

  • As no palaver is ever conducted without profuse libations, raw palm-spirit, distilled by themselves, was passed round in cocoa-nut shell-cups, and I was expected to keep pace – no slow one – with their drinking.

    Insulinde: Experiences of a Naturalist's Wife in the Eastern Archipelago 1887

  • Now no man may call a palaver of all small chiefs unless he notifies the government of his intention, for the government is jealous of self-appointed parliaments, for when men meet together in public conference, however innocent may be its first cause, talk invariably drifts to war, just as when they assemble and talk in private it drifts womanward.

    Bones Being Further Adventures in Mr. Commissioner Sanders' Country Edgar Wallace 1903

  • "I go to the river to call a palaver of all free men," said Muchini;

    The Keepers of the King's Peace Edgar Wallace 1903

  • The Serawoolli thereupon called a palaver (or in European terms, brought an action) to recover damages for the loss of his beast, on which he set a high value.

    Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa, 1795-7 1893

  • Mandingo master can neither deprive his slave of life, nor sell him to a stranger, without first calling a palaver on his conduct, or in other words, bringing him to a public trial.

    Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa, 1795-7 1893

  • Hereupon the kafir put her into confinement, and called a palaver upon the bushreen's conduct.

    Travels in the Interior of Africa — Volume 01 Mungo Park 1788

  • I was told, however, that the Mandingo master can neither deprive his slave of life, nor sell him to a stranger, without first calling a palaver on his conduct, or in other words, bringing him to

    Travels in the Interior of Africa — Volume 01 Mungo Park 1788

Comments

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  • This reminds me of the Gunslinger

    December 14, 2006

  • Who paid in palaver and crumpled old dollars

    Which we squirreled away

    In our rat-trap hotel by the freeway

    And we slept in Sundays

    August 14, 2007

  • This word was used by Rudyard Kipling to refer to a meeting or gathering. One can see the relationship with its 'current' meaning.

    August 13, 2008

  • The word is from Portuguese palavra "word, speech" (thus cognate with 'parley', 'parable', 'parole', 'parliament' etc.) and probably comes into English via some African pidgin, as early uses all refer to discussions or disputes with or among Africans. Thence it passed in a fairly wide range of different senses relating to speech, dispute, or persuasion.

    August 13, 2008

  • This word has a lot of definitions that don't have anything to do with each other. How would anyone know what you meant by it?

    August 16, 2008

  • Context.

    August 16, 2008

  • This word was chosen as Wordnik word of the day.

    November 11, 2009

  • Very often used with a subaudition of humbug.

    April 19, 2011

  • See dissemblance

    March 3, 2012

  • Two vultures engaged in ghoulish palaver

    On owning an old sow's cadaver.

    Said one, "if you'll trade

    Some brain marmalade

    And a sip of hot bile you can have her."

    February 22, 2014

  • The pronunciations below are different. Which pronunciation do you use?

    August 18, 2022