pallium

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
pallium /ˈpalɪəm/

▶noun (pl. pallia /-lɪə/ or palliums)

• 1 a woollen vestment conferred by the Pope on an archbishop, consisting of a narrow circular band placed round the shoulders with a short lappet hanging from front and back.

• 2 a man's large rectangular cloak worn in antiquity.

• 3 Zoology the mantle of a mollusc or brachiopod.

• 4 Anatomy the outer wall of the mammalian cerebrum, corresponding to the cerebral cortex.

– derivatives
pallial adjective.

– origin ME: from L., lit. ‘cloak, covering’.