A Panel Was Originally a Piece of Cloth
A panel is a flat section of a surface, or a group of people. Both come from a word meaning a small piece of cloth.
A panel is a flat distinct section of a door, wall or garment, and also a group of people convened for a purpose. Both come from Old French *panel*, a small piece of cloth, from Latin *pannus*. The group sense arrived through law: the list of jurors was written on a piece of parchment, and the sheet gave its name to the people named on it. So a panel discussion is named after a scrap of cloth by way of a jury list.
- A flat section. *A door panel.*
- A group of people. *An expert panel.*
- A control surface. *The instrument panel.*
- Panelling — wall boards. *Oak panelling.*
- Latin — *pannus*, cloth. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | panel | A wooden panel. |
| Plural | panels | Solar panels. |
| Verb | panel | Panel the room. |
| Noun | panelling | Panelling. |
| Latin | pannus | Cloth. |
- The door has six panels.Joinery.
- An expert panel reviewed the case.People.
- The jury list was written on a panel.Etymology.
The pannus family
- Panel — a small piece of cloth, then any flat section
- Pane — as in a window pane, from the same root
- Counterpane — a bedspread, from an altered French phrase
- Pawn — in the sense of a pledge, is unrelated
- Panelling — the collective noun for wall boards
Old French *panel*, a piece of cloth, from Latin *pannellus*, a diminutive of *pannus*, cloth.
Why does panel mean a group of people?
From law: the list of jurors was written on a sheet, and the sheet's name transferred to the people on it.
Are pane and panel related?
Yes. Both come from Latin pannus, a piece of cloth, through the sense of a flat section.