pomander
Americannoun
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a mixture of aromatic substances, often in the form of a ball, formerly carried on the person as a supposed guard against infection but now placed in closets, dressers, etc.
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the ball, box, or other case in which it was formerly carried.
noun
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a mixture of aromatic substances in a sachet or an orange, formerly carried as scent or as a protection against disease
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a container for such a mixture
Etymology
Origin of pomander
1425–75; earlier pomaundre, pomemandre, late Middle English pomendambre < Middle French pome d'ambre (compare obsolete English pom ( e ) amber ) < Medieval Latin pōmum ambrē ( Latin ambrae ) literally, apple of amber. See pome, amber
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
This annual light display includes a gnome village, Santa and his workshop, a light tunnel, crystal disco, Wishing Tree, model trains and the opportunity to make an orange-and-clove pomander to take home.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 4, 2021
This annual light display includes a gnome village, Santa and his workshop, a light tunnel, crystal disco, Wishing Tree, model trains and the opportunity to make an orange and clove pomander to take home.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 4, 2021
In much the same way as vegetarians are always presumed to want mushroom risotto, vegans were expected to want to smell like an airing cupboard pomander.
From The Guardian • Jul. 15, 2017
It has echoes of the scented pomander, which can be an orange studded with cloves.
From BBC • Dec. 18, 2014
In that ruin of a house, she went about her coquetry, applying her dyes, her pomander and pouncet-box.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
