Balustrade

I discovered this evening - because, as a member of the local library I have free online access to the Oxford English Dictionary (thank you again, fellow taxpayers) - that the first known use of 'balustrade' in English was in 1644. The word derives from baluster (1602, now usually used in its corrupted form of bannister) which reached English from Greek via Latin, Italian then French and means 'blossom of the wild pomegranate'. It seems that a baluster resembles the double-curving calyx-tube of this flower.

Who'd've thought... I shall ponder pomegranates (which have a lovely etymology all of their own) next time I cycle over this bridge .