Etymology

polari

P3O1L1A1R1I1

Today it means: To speak or talk, particularly in slang or cant. Full definition →

Italian parlare
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polari · verb1

  1. Italian · derived fromparlare“to talk”
  2. English todaypolari

From Italian parlare (“to talk”). See Polari for more.

Polari · proper noun2

  1. Italian · derived fromparlare“to talk”
  2. English todayPolari

Borrowed from Polari, from Italian parlare (“to talk”). The loss of the first r and the changing vowel quality of the non-stressed vowels is due to the non-rhotic UK accent which reinterpreted the phonemes. The adoption of the infinitive form means that the word probably originated from a Romance-based creole or pidgin like Sabir. First use in English appears c. 1846, in the writings of Lord Chief Baron.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.