Word for Wednesday: Pomegranate

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Our Word for Wednesday theme for July is fruit. 

The word fruit dates back to the late-twelfth century when it was used to mean ‘any vegetable product useful to humans or animals’. It entered English via Old French and comes from the Latin ‘fructus’ meaning ‘an enjoyment, delight, or satisfaction’ as well as ‘proceeds, produce, fruit, and crops’.  The word took on its modern meaning in the early thirteenth century.

So far we’ve looked at the words banana, pineapple, and plum. Today’s word is pomegranate.

A pomegranate is a type of fruit known for its juicy red pulp and many tiny seeds. It has a thick brownish-red rind.

The word entered English around 1300 as ‘poumgarnet’ from the Old French ‘pome grenate’, which in turn comes from the Medieval Latin ‘pomum granatum’ meaning ‘apple with many seeds’. 

You will remember from our blog post on the pineapple that the word ‘apple’ was originally used more generally to describe any type of fruit – the same is true for the Latin ‘pome’. ‘Pomum granatum’ comes from ‘pome’ meaning ‘apple’ or ‘fruit’ and ‘grenate’ meaning ‘having grains’. The classical Latin name for the pomegranate was ‘malum granatum’ meaning ‘seeded apple’. 


22 Jul 2020
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