A google search for the origin of the word tarpaulin (etundubaali) shows it came from the words 'tar' and 'palling'. It referred to a tarred canvas pall used to cover objects on ships during the mid-19th century in Europe.
Tar is a thick black liquid used to cover something to preserve it. Sailors often tarred their own over clothes in the same manner as the sheets or palls.
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