† polancren.

Etymology: Immediate origin uncertain; the α. forms show alteration after anchor n.¹ (compare forms at that entry). Compare French palan apparatus consisting of pulleys and ropes, with one or more wheels, used to carry out manoeuvres aboard a ship or to lift heavy loads (1694; earlier as †palanc (1636), †palenc (1573 in Middle French), and †palentz (plural; 1553 in Middle French in a translation of a Portuguese text)), probably < Italian palanco (although this is apparently not attested until later (1612); apparently originally a regional word from Genoa; compare post-classical Latin paranchus (1268 in an Italian source from Genoa)), ultimately < classical Latin palanga , variant of phalanga trunk, log, pole (see palank n.). Compare Spanish palanca lever (1266 or earlier), Catalan palanca lever, also ship's gangway, bridge consisting of one or several planks (14th cent.), and (with the β form) Middle French (Picardy) palange lever for launching boats (1390), Italian †palanga a hoisting or raising apparatus, a lever, a roller (1598 in Florio), post-classical Latin palanga (1276 in an Italian source), all ultimately < classical Latin palanga (see above).It is uncertain whether the following (and similarly pollantz, plural, in the same manuscript) shows a form of the Middle English word or an (otherwise unattested) Anglo-Norman parallel:1422–7 in S. Rose Navy of Lancastrian Kings (1982) 135 Pendantz [for] les pollances.