pommel

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈpɒ.məl/ (UK); /ˈpɑ.məl/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English pomel,^[2][3][4][5] borrowed from Old French pomel (“rounded knob”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} a diminutive of pom “hilt of a sword”,^[3][4] partly from Medieval Latin pōmellum,^[4][5][6] a diminutive of Latin pōmum (“fruit, apple”),^{[2][4][5][6][7]} the connecting notion being roundness.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

An ornamental knob or ball, a round finial (about 1250 in Barnhart; mid-13th century in Etymonline).^[3][4][8]

Semantic evolution

By about 1300 the word meant the knob at the end of a sword hilt or dagger grip,^[4][3][8] which kept the hand from slipping and could be used to strike an adversary too close for a cut.^[4] The sense “front peak of a saddle” appears about 1450,^[3][4][6] and in 15th- and 16th-century poetry it occasionally meant a woman's breast.^[4] The verb, to beat or strike as with a pommel, dates from 1530,^[8][3][5] and from it comes pummel.^[7] The gymnast's pommel horse (1908) is named for its removable handles, which resemble the pommels of a saddle.^[4][5]

Timeline

• about 1250 – an ornamental knob.^[3]
• c. 1300 – the knob of a sword hilt.^[4][8]
• about 1450 – the front of a saddle.^[3][4]
• 1530 – verb, to beat.^[8][3][5]
• 1887 – the handles of a vaulting horse.^[4]
• 1908 – pommel horse.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The upper front part of a saddle; a saddlebow.
2. A knob on the hilt of a sword or similar weapon.
3. Either of the two curved handles on top of a pommel horse.
4. (architecture) A spherical ornament or finial.

Verb

1. To beat or strike, as with the fists; to pummel.

Word family

• pommel horse

Related words

• pummel
• pomegranate
• pomade

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Hendrickson, Robert (2008), The Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins, 4th ed., New York: Facts on File
8. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press