pomegranate

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). The adjective is derived from the noun.

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.
   The seeds of the pomegranate, for example, were widely used to prevent conception in the ancient world and they are still used in India, East Africa, and the Pacific. 2001, Vern L. Bullough, editor, Herbal Contraceptives and Abortifacients: Encyclopedia of Birth Control, page 125
   Persephone is taken to the underworld by Hades to be his queen. She willingly eats a seed of pomegranate and is forced to spend every winter with her husband in the land of the dead, symbolizing the yearly decay and revival of vegetation. […] In Judaism, the number of seeds in a pomegranate is said to be the exact number of mitzvah, or spiritual duties required of a devout Jew. 2005, Payam Nabarz, The Mysteries of Mithras: The Pagan Belief That Shaped the Christian World, page 79
   The pomegranate is a subtropical fruit about the size of a large apple. 2006, Wayne Gisslen, Professional Cooking, College Version, page 683
   The grilled leeks are then drizzled with a gorgeous, ruby-red pomegranate vinaigrette. 2011, David Joachim, Fire It Up: 40 Recipes for Grilling Everything, page 310
2. The shrub or small tree that bears the fruit.
   The pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) originates from Persia, and is cultivated in western and central Asia and in the Mediterranean region; it is also grown commercially in California. […] The predominant parasitic nematodes affecting pomegranate are the root knot nematodes, M. incognita, M. acrita and M. javanica (McSorley, 1981). 2005, Fahiem E. El-Borai, Larry W. Duncan, “12: Nematode Parasites of Subtropical and Tropical Fruit Tree Crops”, in M. Luc, Richard A. Sikora, J. Bridge, editors, Plant Parasitic Nematodes in Subtropical and Tropical Agriculture, 2nd edition, page 481
   The pomegranate is the tree of knowledge in some myths. In others, it is linked with the underworld,[…]. 2005, Payam Nabarz, The Mysteries of Mithras: The Pagan Belief That Shaped the Christian World, page 79
   In this experiment, the average Zn concentration of leaf in four pomegranate cultivars was between 12.0 and 19.8mg/kg in the control (Fig. 2a). 2008, M. N. V. Prasad, Trace Elements as Contaminants and Nutrients, page 225
3. A dark red or orange-red colour, like that of the pulp or skin of a pomegranate fruit.
   pomegranate:
4. (Australia, colloquial, derogatory, obsolete) A person of British descent, especially one who has (recently) immigrated to Australia; a pom, a pommy.

adj

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