pound

Pronunciation

• IPA: /paʊnd/^[1]

pound¹ unit of weight and money

Etymology

The unit is Middle English pound, punde, inherited from Old English pund,^[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *pundą,^[3][4] which also gave Gothic and Old Norse pund, Old High German phunt (German Pfund) and Dutch pond;^[2][3] it is a very early Germanic borrowing of Latin pondō (“by weight”), from libra pondō “a pound by weight”,^[2][3][4][5] the ablative of a noun *pondos, related to pondus “weight” and pendere “to hang, weigh”,^[2][3] from the PIE root Proto-Indo-European *(s)pen- (“to draw, stretch, spin”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A measure of weight: before 810 in Barnhart, 805–31 in the OED.^[2][6] A unit of money is recorded in Old English about 975, first a pound weight of silver.^[2][3][5]

Semantic evolution

In the Middle Ages several pounds were reckoned: the Tower pound and the troy pound of 12 ounces, the merchant's of 15, and the avoirdupois of 16, which was fixed for trade before 1377.^[3][2] Old English pund also meant a pint, a pound weight of water.^[3][6] The abbreviations lb and £ are from Latin libra, as accounts were kept in Latin.^[3][5] A pound of flesh, an exact and harsh demand, comes from Shylock's bond in The Merchant of Venice (1596).^[6][5] Pound cake (1747) has about a pound of each ingredient.^[3] In America, the pound sign is the symbol #.^[7]

Timeline

• before 810 – a weight.^[2]
• c. 975 – a unit of money.^[2]
• before 1377 – the 16-ounce pound fixed for trade.^[2]
• 1596 – a pound of flesh.^[6]
• 1747 – pound cake.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A unit of weight equal to 16 ounces (about 454 grams); lb.
2. The basic monetary unit of the United Kingdom, divided into 100 pence; also of several other countries.
3. (US) The symbol #; the pound sign.

pound² to beat

Etymology

The verb is an alteration, with an added d, of Middle English pounen, inherited from Old English pūnian (“to crush, pulverize, beat”),^[2][3][8] from West Germanic *pūnōjan, probably akin to Dutch puin “rubble, fragments”, of unknown origin.^[2][3][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

To crush or pulverize: about 1000 in Barnhart and MWU's “before 12th century”.^[2][8]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English pounen meant to grind grain or pulverize herbs;^[3] the unetymological d appears in the 16th century, pownden before 1500 and pound in 1594.^[2][3] To beat or punch someone is from the early 14th century,^[3] to thrash with fists or a heavy instrument by 1790,^[3] and to hit hard again and again first in Dryden in 1700.^[2] Moving with heavy steps is from the 19th century.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1000 – to crush.^[2]
• early 14th century – to beat someone.^[3]
• 1594 – the spelling pound.^[2]
• 1700 – to hit repeatedly, in Dryden.^[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To strike hard and repeatedly.
2. To crush to a powder or pulp.
3. Of the heart, to beat strongly; to throb.
4. To walk or run with heavy steps.
5. To attack with heavy gunfire.

pound³ enclosure

Etymology

The enclosure is from late Old English pund-, found only in compounds such as pundfald “pinfold”,^[2][3][4] related to pyndan “to dam up, enclose water” and so to pond;^[3][2] its ultimate origin is unknown.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

An enclosure for stray animals: probably about 1378, in Wycliffe, in Barnhart; the late 14th century in Etymonline; earlier in the surname Pond (1206) and in place names.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

It was especially an enclosure kept by the authorities for straying or trespassing cattle,^[3][6] also used to store seized goods,^[3] and by 1970 a lot for impounded motor vehicles.^[3] The verb, to shut up in a pound, is from the 15th century.^[4][9] Compare impound.^[4]

Timeline

• 1198 – in a place name.^[2]
• c. 1378 – an enclosure for animals.^[2]
• 1970 – a car pound.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An enclosure where stray dogs or cattle, or vehicles removed by the police, are kept until claimed.

Related words

• pounder
• impound
• pond
• pinfold
• pendant
• ponder
• Libra

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press