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pomade

[po-meyd, -mahd, poh-]
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noun
  1. a scented ointment, especially one used for the scalp or for dressing the hair.
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verb (used with object), po·mad·ed, po·mad·ing.
  1. to dress with pomade; apply pomade to.
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Origin of pomade

1555–65; earlier pommade < French < Italian pomata (so called because apples were originally an ingredient), equivalent to pom(a) apple (< Latin, plural (taken in VL as feminine singular) of pōmum fruit) + -ata -ade1. See pomatum
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for pomade

Historical Examples

  • There was an odour of pomade and vanilla that made me feel sick.

    My Double Life

    Sarah Bernhardt

  • The pomade was a present from Esther, and it was the first time I had used it.

    The Memoires of Casanova, Complete

    Jacques Casanova de Seingalt

  • He beheld them rub their eyes and bodies with a sort of pomade, when, lo!

    The Science of Fairy Tales

    Edwin Sidney Hartland

  • As you please; but since you refuse to do it, we will say no more about the jar of pomade.

  • But this old hag who makes the pomade—do you know her address?

British Dictionary definitions for pomade

pomade

noun
  1. a perfumed oil or ointment put on the hair, as to make it smooth and shiny
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verb
  1. (tr) to put pomade on
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Also called: pomatum (pəˈmeɪtəm)

Word Origin

C16: from French pommade, from Italian pomato (originally made partly from apples), from Latin pōmum apple
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for pomade

n.

1560s, from Middle French pommade "an ointment" (16c.), from Italian pomata, from pomo "apple," from Latin pomum "fruit; apple" (see Pomona). So called because the original ointment recipe contained mashed apples.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper