pomme d'amour

French

Etymology

Literally, “love apple”, referring for sense 2 to the supposed aphrodisiac qualities of tomato seeds. This origin is disputed, and it also suspected to be a corruption of Spanish poma de moros (literally “fruit of Moors”), which may also be the basis of the Italian pomo d'oro and the Sicilian puma d'amuri.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɔm d‿a.muʁ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uʁ

Noun

pomme d’amour f (plural pommes d’amour)

1. toffee apple, candy apple
2. (obsolete) tomato

   Synonyms: tomate, (obsolete) pomme d’or, (obsolete) pomme dorée

Descendants

• → English: love apple (calque)

References

• “tomate”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.