Dictionary entry

Pommel

Webster's Dictionary 1913

Pom″mel (?), n. [OE. pomel, OF. pomel, F. pommeau, LL. pomellus, fr. L. pomum fruit, LL. also, an apple. See Pome.] A knob or ball; an object resembling a ball in form; as: (a) The knob on the hilt of a sword. Macaulay. (b) The knob or protuberant part of a saddlebow. (c) The top (of the head). Chaucer. (d) A knob forming the finial of a turret or pavilion.