Apparently a variant of paloda (“lintel”) (q.v.), ultimately from the same source as the verb lodāt (“to crawl, to creep”), presumably because, since doors were originally low, one had to "crawl" under their lintels to enter the house.^[1]

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palodze f (5th declension)

1. windowsill (a flat surface protruding from the base of a window frame)

   kaķis palodzē ― a cat on the window sill

   plata palodze ― wide window sill

   novietot puķu podus uz palodzes ― to place the flower pots on the window sill

   Alsters sēž uz palodzes, plaukstā sažņaudzis aizkara malu, un skatās lejā ― Alsters sits on the window sill, his hands clutching the curtain edge, and looks down

   lietus pirksti vienmuļi grabināja pret rūti un pret skārda palodzi ― the rain's fingers were monotonously rattling against the panes and against the tin window sill

2. (rare) space, part of the wall, under a window

   suns atsēdsā palodzē zem krūma un diedelēja vakariņas ― the dog sat under a bush in the area under the window and begged for his dinner

• paloda