pommel English · revision 799

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈpɒ.məl/ ''(UK)''; /ˈpɑ.məl/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|pomel]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) [[bor|fro|pomel|t=rounded knob]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Hoad 1986) a diminutive of ''pom'' “hilt of a sword”,^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) partly from Medieval Latin ''pōmellum'',^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Hoad 1986) a diminutive of [[la|pōmum|t=fruit, apple]],^(AHD)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Hoad 1986)^(Hendrickson 2008) the connecting notion being roundness.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ An ornamental knob or ball, a round finial (about 1250 in Barnhart; mid-13th century in Etymonline).^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ By about 1300 the word meant the knob at the end of a sword hilt or dagger grip,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989) which kept the hand from slipping and could be used to strike an adversary too close for a cut.^(Etymonline) The sense “front peak of a saddle” appears about 1450,^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) and in 15th- and 16th-century poetry it occasionally meant a woman's breast.^(Etymonline) The verb, to beat or strike as with a pommel, dates from 1530,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate) and from it comes [[pummel]].^(Hendrickson 2008) The gymnast's ''pommel horse'' (1908) is named for its removable handles, which resemble the pommels of a saddle.^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * about 1250 – an ornamental knob.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * c. 1300 – the knob of a sword hilt.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * about 1450 – the front of a saddle.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1530 – verb, to beat.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1887 – the handles of a vaulting horse.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1908 – ''pommel horse''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The upper front part of a [[saddle]]; a [[saddlebow]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A knob on the [[hilt]] of a sword or similar weapon.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Either of the two curved handles on top of a [[pommel horse]].^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+ # ''(architecture)'' A spherical ornament or [[finial]].^(RHWU)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To beat or strike, as with the fists; to [[pummel]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[pommel horse]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[pummel]]

+ * [[pomegranate]]

+ * [[pomade]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}