pomegranate

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*ǵerh₂-“to mature, grow old”
2. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*h₂po-h₁ém-os“taken off”
3. Latin · derived frompōmum“fruit; fruit tree”
4. Medieval Latin · derived frompōmum garnātum
5. Latin · derived from(mālum) grānātum
6. Italian · derived frompomo“fruit, pome; apple”
7. Italian · derived frompomogranato
8. Old French · derived frompome grenade
9. Middle French · derived frompomme granade
10. Anglo-Norman · derived frompome gernate
11. Middle English · inherited frompome-garnet
12. English todaypomegranate

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.

Words from the same roots