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pawn

Pronunciation: /ˈpɔːn/

The English word “pawn” has 9 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. The state of being held as security for a loan, or as a pledge.
  2. An instance of pawning something.
  3. An item given as security on a loan, or as a pledge.
  4. A pawnshop; pawnbroker.
  5. The most numerous chess piece, or a similar piece in a similar game. In chess, each side starts with eight; moves are only forward, and attacks are only diagonally or en passant.
  6. A person being manipulated by another, being used to some end.
  7. A gallery.

verb

  1. To pledge; to stake or wager.
  2. To give as security on a loan of money; especially, to deposit (something) at a pawn shop.

Etymology

From Middle English paun, pawyn, pawnd, from Old French pan, pant (“pledge for a payment”), from a Germanic language, perhaps Frankish *pand (“deposit, security, pledge”), further origin uncertain. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Pound (“deposit, pledge, pawn”), West Frisian pân (“pawn”), Dutch pand (“pledge, pawn”), German Low German Pand (“deposit, pledge, pawn”), German Pfand (“deposit, pledge,…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.