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Palermo

Palermo

10 4.9
The capital city of Sicily in Italy that has a busy port and old buildings
  • proper noun
: Palermo
  • I was born in Palermo, Sicily.
  • Palermo, Sicily
  • Palermo catacombs
  • Palermo mummies

Examples

  • Jacques, remember those divine fava beans we had in that marvelous little place in Palermo?

  • My real father was an immigrant, a barber from Palermo who now cuts the hair of movie stars in Beverly Hills.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • We attended the university in Palermo together.

  • How are things in Palermo?

  • Sardinia's east coast leads toward Messina, and its west coast toward Palermo.

    Academic text (1996)
  • Flight 604 for Rome with connections to Palermo is now boarding at gate 43.

  • The key to the conquest of Sicily lay in the largest and wealthiest of its cities, Palermo.

    Academic text (2010)
  • After last Sunday's 2-0 loss at Palermo, under-fire Samp tactician Ciro Ferrara refused to resign.

    Blog text (34)
  • Yet even today, the splendour of the churches of Palermo hearken back to a time when Latins, Greeks and Arabs lived side by side under Norman rule.

  • I was born in Palermo, Sicily.

Surface Forms

Palermo main

Etymology

Palermo comes from the ancient Greek name Panormos, made of pan- 'all' and ormos 'harbour', which is like the English word 'port'. It was called this because the city's bay is a very safe natural port, so the name means 'all-port' and helps you remember Palermo as a major port city.