Skip to content

pomegranate

noun

  1. heraldic figure
L325691 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˈpɒmɪ(ˌ)ɡɹænɪt/ / /ˈpɑmɪˌɡɹænɪt/ / /ˈpɑməˌɡɹænət/

adj

Etymology: The noun is derived from Middle English pome-garnet, pome-garnete, pome garnate, pome granat, pome-granate (“pomegranate fruit; pomegranate tree; pomegranate seeds (?)”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman pome gernate, pomme gernette, Middle French pomme granade, pomme granate, pomme grenade, and Old French pome grenade, pome grenate, pomme grenate [and other forms] (modern French grenade), probably from Italian pomogranato, pomo granato (though apparently first attested later), and then either: * from Italian pomo (“fruit, pome; apple”) + Latin (mālum) grānātum, (mālo)grānātum (“pomegranate”); or * directly from Medieval Latin pōmum garnātum, pōmum grānātum (“pomegranate”), from Latin pōmum (“fruit; fruit tree”) + grānātum (“pomegranate”). Pōmum is possibly ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂po-h₁ém-os (“taken off”) (in the sense of being picked off a plant), from *h₂epó (“away; off”) + *h₁em- (“to distribute; to take”); while grānātum is derived from grānātus (“having many grains or seeds”), from grānum (“grain, seed, small kernel”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵerh₂- (“to mature, grow old”) + *-nós (suffix forming verbal adjectives)) + -ātus (suffix forming adjectives indicating the possession of a quality or thing from nouns). Displaced earlier Old English æppelcyrnel (literally: apple + kernel), itself a calque of the Latin term. The adjective is derived from the noun.

  1. Of a colour like that of the pulp or skin of a pomegranate fruit; dark red or orange-red.

    Many people would think Miss Wilcox, standing there in her blue merino dress and pomegranate ribbon, a very agreeable woman.

noun

Etymology: The noun is derived from Middle English pome-garnet, pome-garnete, pome garnate, pome granat, pome-granate (“pomegranate fruit; pomegranate tree; pomegranate seeds (?)”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman pome gernate, pomme gernette, Middle French pomme granade, pomme granate, pomme grenade, and Old French pome grenade, pome grenate, pomme grenate [and other forms] (modern French grenade), probably from Italian pomogranato, pomo granato (though apparently first attested later), and then either: * from Italian pomo (“fruit, pome; apple”) + Latin (mālum) grānātum, (mālo)grānātum (“pomegranate”); or * directly from Medieval Latin pōmum garnātum, pōmum grānātum (“pomegranate”), from Latin pōmum (“fruit; fruit tree”) + grānātum (“pomegranate”). Pōmum is possibly ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂po-h₁ém-os (“taken off”) (in the sense of being picked off a plant), from *h₂epó (“away; off”) + *h₁em- (“to distribute; to take”); while grānātum is derived from grānātus (“having many grains or seeds”), from grānum (“grain, seed, small kernel”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵerh₂- (“to mature, grow old”) + *-nós (suffix forming verbal adjectives)) + -ātus (suffix forming adjectives indicating the possession of a quality or thing from nouns). Displaced earlier Old English æppelcyrnel (literally: apple + kernel), itself a calque of the Latin term. The adjective is derived from the noun.

  1. The fruit of the Punica granatum, about the size of an orange with a thick, hard, reddish skin enclosing many seeds, each with an edible pink or red pulp tasting both sweet and tart.

    Here the blue fig with luſcious juice o'erflows, / With deeper red the full pomegranate glows, / The branch here bends beneath the weighty pear, / And verdant olives flouriſh round the year.

    In the walls of the cells, elevated on seven steps of Parian marble, various statutes stood in niches, and those walls were ornamented with the pomegranate consecrated to Isis.

  2. The shrub or small tree that bears the fruit.

    I finish'd this day with a walke in the greate garden of the Thuilleries, which is rarely contrived for privacy, shade, or company, by groves, plantations of tall trees, especialy that in yᵉ middle, being of elmes, another of mulberys. There is a labyrinth of cypresse, noble hedges of pomegranates, fountaines, fishponds, and an aviary.

    On her fair cheek’s unfading hue, / The young pomegranate’s blossoms strew / Their bloom in blushes ever new— […]

  3. A dark red or orange-red colour, like that of the pulp or skin of a pomegranate fruit.
  4. A person of British descent, especially one who has (recently) immigrated to Australia; a pom, a pommy.
pomegranate — meaning, definition (noun) · Vinony