In West Africa the Portuguese word became a traders' term for "negotiating with the natives," and apparently English picked up the word there. (The Spanish cognate, palabra, appears 16c.-17c. in Spanish phrases used in English.) The meaning "idle profuse talk" is recorded by 1748. The verb, "indulge in palaver," is by 1733, from the noun.

It was originally a Portuguese word palavra meaning talk or discussion. It was borrowed from the Portuguese by British sailors who thought that Portuguese traders indulged in excessive ‘palaver’ with West African tribes.

The word ‘palavra’ began to be used to mean ‘dispute, quarrel, or misunderstanding; a matter for arbitration’. British sailors trading with West Africa picked up the word palavra and adopted it into English.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary it derives from the Portuguese "palavra" meaning "speech" (cognate with the English word "parable")which meant "talk, parley,discussion", specifically between Portuguese traders and West African natives.