pomum

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈpoː.mũː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈpɔː.mum]^[1]

Forms

pōmum n (genitive pōmī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *poomos, likely from *po-emo- “picked off”, compare emō, or possibly *po-omo- or *pe-omo-.^[1] The OLD marks it as doubtful, and Lewis and Short relate it to the root of pāscō “to feed”.^[2][3] A feminine ⟨pōmus⟩ “fruit tree” is also found.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Cato, of a fruit tree.^[2] Köbler dates Cato 234–149 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant a fruit tree, as in Cato, and a fruit of any kind, apples, cherries, nuts, figs, dates, as in Varro, Cicero and Virgil.^[2][3][6] In Celsus it meant especially an orchard fruit, and Pliny applies it to other edible parts of plants.^[2] Petronius uses it contemptuously of a person, “a fine specimen”.^[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant an apple, a fruit.^[7] It survives in Italian pomo and Romanian pom, and its plural pōma gave Old French pome and French pomme.^[1] Its Medieval Latin diminutive pōmellum gave English pommel in the mid-13th century.^[8]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of a fruit tree.^[2][5]
• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of fruit.^[3][5]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of fruit.^[2][5]
• mid-13th century – English pommel is recorded.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A fruit tree.^[2]
2. A fruit; an orchard fruit.^[2]
3. Of a person, a fine specimen.^[2]
4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) An apple.^[7]

Word family

• pōmārium
• pōmārius
• pōmētum
• pōmifer
• pōmōsus
• pōmusculum

Related words

• Pōmōna
• pōmus
• English pommel
• English pomade

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com