/pom"gran'it, pom"i-, pum"-/ , n.
1. a chambered, many-seeded, globose fruit, having a tough, usually red rind and surmounted by a crown of calyx lobes, the edible portion consisting of pleasantly acid flesh developed from the outer seed coat.
2. the shrub or small tree, Punica granatum, that bears it, native to southwestern Asia but widely cultivated in warm regions.
[ 1275-1325; ME poumgarnet, pomegarnade ( pome grenate, pome gernete ), repr. ML pomum granatum lit., seedy apple. See POME, GRENADE ]