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pommel

UK/ˈpɒ.məl/US/ˈpɑ.məl/
nounC2Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #12,914 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: pommels

A pommel is the knob at the end of a sword hilt. Grip the pommel, a heavy pommel, the pommel of the saddle.

It is not decoration: its weight balances the blade so the sword handles from the hand rather than the tip, and a sword without one would be exhausting. The raised front of a saddle is also a pommel, and the pommel horse is named from it.

Søren Niedziella from Denmark · CC BY 2.0

Definitions of pommel

  1. 1nounpommelThe knob at the end of a sword hilt.C2

    “The knight rested his hand on the pommel of his sword as he spoke.”

pommel is a knob.

Where it comes from

Old French pomel is a diminutive of Latin pomum, an apple, from the shape of the knob.

  1. Latin

    pōmum — apple

  2. Vulgar Latin

    *pomellum — ball, knob

  3. Medieval Latin

    pomellum

  4. Old French

    pomel

  5. Middle English

    pomel

  6. English, today

    pommel

From Middle English pomel, from Old French pomel and Medieval Latin pomellum, pumellum, presumedly via Vulgar Latin pomellum (“ball, knob”), the diminutive of Latin pōmum (“apple”). Compare French pommeau, Spanish pomo, and Swedish pumla.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Song of Ice and Fire

Practise this word

pommel in the wild

  • A tassel or sword knot may be attached to the guard or pommel.

    Hilt

  • The pommel horse, also known as vaulting horse, or hobble horse is an artistic gymnastics apparatus.

    Pommel horse

  • Two elements in artistic gymnastics, one on pommel horse and one on parallel bars are named after him.

    Marius Urzică

  • The swords were richly decorated, with inlay work and, especially, elaborate pommel shapes.

    Hwandudaedo

  • A 2006 Commonwealth Games champion representing England in the pommel horse, in 2015 he became European champion, his first major international title representing Great Britain.

    Louis Smith (gymnast)

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.