Pummy

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. An informal term used in Australia and New Zealand for a person from England, often used affectionately or teasingly
2. A slang word in Australian and New Zealand speech referring to someone born or raised in England, sometimes used as a playful jibe
3. Informal Australian and New Zealand slang for an Englishman or Englishwoman, a variant spelling of pommy used in casual conversation

Etymology: Pummy is an adjective built from "pumice" and the English suffix "-y," meaning something like "pumice-like," or light and porous like the volcanic rock. The rock's name came into Old English as "pumic," borrowed from Latin "pumex." Latin "pumex" is traditionally linked to "spuma," meaning foam, which would suit a stone so full of gas bubbles, though the exact connection is uncertain. The adjective is the ordinary English pattern of turning a noun into a descriptive word, so its story is mostly that of the stone it describes.