pomegranate

Meanings

Noun

shrub or small tree native to southwestern Asia having large red many-seeded fruit
large globular fruit having many seeds with juicy red pulp in a tough brownish-red rind
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 shrub or small tree that bears the fruit.
A dark red or orange-red colour, like that of the pulp or skin of a pomegranate fruit.
A person of British descent, especially one who has (recently) immigrated to Australia; a pom, a pommy.

Adj

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

Origin / 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.

Synonyms

pomegranate tree, Punica granatum

Scrabble Score: 16

pomegranate is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
pomegranate is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
pomegranate is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 20

pomegranate is a valid Words With Friends word