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Pali Text Society's Dictionary (PTSD) entry on Pāli says: Pāli 1. a line, row Dāvs iii.61; iv.3; Vism 242 (dvattiŋs' ākāra˚), 251 (danta˚); SnA 87. -- 2. a line, norm, thus the canon of Buddhist writings; the text of the Pāli Canon, i. e. the original text (opp. to the Commentary; thus "pāliyaŋ" is opposed to "aṭṭhakathāyaŋ" at Vism 107, 450, etc). It is the literary language of the early Buddhists, closely related to Māgadhī...The word is only found in Commentaries, not in the Piṭaka.

It gives two meanings to Pāli. This is an interpretation of the Dictionary. Based on this interpretation, PTSD derives the meaning of Pāli as "the text of the Pāli canon". Later on it says, "It is the literary language of the early Buddhists".

All controversy regarding the origin of Pāli can be dismissed by adopting the following definition: Pāli language is the text of the Pāli canon; the Pāli corpus. Here the Pāli canon is defined precisely as the Pāli canon published by the Pali Text Society; moreover, PTS has published a Pali-English Dictionary.

It is better to use the form Pali and give its pronunciation as pāli; no meaning is given to sound pāli. In other words Pali is the name given to the canon of the Theravāda.