garnet

Where does the word "garnet" come from? It comes from Latin granatum, passing through Old French before entering English (1300s).

Garnet’s story begins in Latin: granatum meant “relating to the pomegranate.” Relating to the pomegranate, whose seeds resemble the deep red stone. By medieval, the word had taken hold in Old French as grenat. Carried into French gemstone vocabulary for the seed-like red stone. It reached English by 1300s as garnet. Settled as the English word for the deep red gemstone. Today, garnet means a deep red semi-precious gemstone.

1. Stage 1 · Latin · ancient granatum "relating to the pomegranate", relating to the pomegranate, whose seeds resemble the deep red stone.
2. Stage 2 · Old French · medieval grenat "a deep red gemstone", carried into French gemstone vocabulary for the seed-like red stone.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1300s garnet "a deep red precious gemstone", settled as the English word for the deep red gemstone.