Etymologically
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pondus

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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

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