Project Object Model

The Project Object Model (POM) is the central construct of the Apache Maven build management system. In Maven, it is represented by an XML file which contains general information about the project and configuration details, which are used by Maven to build the project. Some of the configuration that can be specified in the POM-file are project dependencies, plugins or goals that can be executed, the build profiles, and so on.

Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Object_Model