pondus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈpɔn.dʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈpɔn.dus]^[1]

Forms

pondus n (genitive ponderis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *pondos, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pénd-os, from the root Proto-Indo-European *(s)pend- (“to draw, stretch, hang”) of pendō “to weigh” and pendeō “to hang”.^[1][2][3] Isidore of Seville explained it as what hangs balanced in the scales.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is the Twelve Tables, which he dates about 450 BC.^[5] The OLD's first citations are from Plautus, of weight and weights.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It meant weight, the amount something weighs, and weight as a property of matter, as in Juvenal.^[2] It meant a weight used in scales, as Livy's false weights brought by the Gauls, in the plural a balance, and a unit of weight, a pound.^[2][6][7] It meant mass or bulk, a heavy object, a load, and figuratively the burden of responsibility or age.^[2] Figuratively it also meant importance, influence, authority, as in Cicero, gravity of manner, and stability of character, as in Seneca.^[2]

In Medieval Latin it meant a pound, a hundredweight and the public weighing scales.^[8] Italian pondo survives.^[1] From its ablative pondō “by weight” Germanic borrowed *punda-, whence Old English pund and English pound.^[3] English ponder comes from its verb ponderō “to weigh”.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 450 BC – The Twelve Tables use it.^[5]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of weight and weights.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of influence.^[2][5]
• mid-14th century – English ponder is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. Weight.^[2]
2. A weight (for scales), (plural) a balance; a pound.^[2]
3. Mass, bulk; a heavy object, load, burden.^[2]
4. Importance, influence, authority.^[2]
5. Gravity, dignity.^[2]
6. Stability, steadfastness.^[2]

Word family

• ponderārium
• ponderitās
• ponderō
• ponderōsus
• pondiculum
• pondō
• pondusculum
• aequipondium
• assipondium
• centumpondium
• dupondius
• interpondium

Related words

• pendō
• pendeō
• English pound
• English ponder

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill