'palmette' originates from French, specifically the word 'palmette', a diminutive of 'palme' (from Latin 'palma'), where the suffix '-ette' meant 'small' and 'palme' meant 'palm (tree or leaf).'

'palmette' changed from the French word 'palmette' (a diminutive of 'palme', itself from Latin 'palma') and was adopted into English through art-historical and archaeological usage, becoming the modern English 'palmette'.

Initially, it meant 'little palm' or 'small palm leaf'; over time it came to mean specifically a 'stylized decorative motif based on a palm leaf'.