Etymograph

English

pomegranate

Pomegranate comes from Middle English pome-garnet, from Middle French pomme granade, probably via Italian pomogranato, from pōmum ‘fruit’ + Latin grānātum ‘pomegranate’ (from grānum ‘seed’).

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgrānum1‘grain, seed’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgrānātus1‘having many seeds’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgrānātum1‘pomegranate’
  4. Italianc. 1300–presentpomogranato1‘pomegranate’uncertain
  5. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600pomme granade1
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pome-garnet1‘pomegranate’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1644pomegranate1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English pomegranate
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1644, [Diary entry for 8 February 1644]: “I finish'd this day with a walke in the…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgrānumWiktionary, English pomegranate‘grain, seed’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgrānātusWiktionary, English pomegranate‘having many seeds’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgrānātumWiktionary, English pomegranate‘pomegranate’
  4. Italianc. 1300–presentpomogranatoWiktionary, English pomegranate‘pomegranate’uncertain
  5. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600pomme granadeWiktionary, English pomegranate
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pome-garnetWiktionary, English pomegranate‘pomegranate’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1644pomegranateWiktionary, English pomegranate. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1644, [Diary entry for 8 February 1644]: “I finish'd this day with a walke in the…”

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Today it means

noun 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.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “pomegranate”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin grānum / pomegranate