pool English · revision 4037

+ English has two words spelled ''pool'': the body of water, from Old English, and the stake in a game, from French poule; their association was probably helped by the identical sound.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /puːl/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ {{homograph|1|water}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 897|origins=gmw-pro *pōl}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The water is [[inh|enm|pol]], pole,^(Barnhart 1988) [[inh|ang|pōl|t=small body of water; deep, still place in a stream]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[gmw-pro|*pōl]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) the source also of Old Frisian and Middle Low German pōl, Dutch poel and German Pfuhl,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) which is of uncertain origin, perhaps a substrate word.^(Etymonline) Hoad relates it to Old English pyll “creek”.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A small body of standing water: about 897 in the OED,^(OED 1989) in Alfred's translation of Gregory's Pastoral Care according to Barnhart.^(Barnhart 1988) A deep still place in a river is from before 1000.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A small puddle of any liquid is from 1843,^(OED 1989) and an underground deposit of oil from 1902.^(OED 1989) The swimming pool is recorded from 1901 in Etymonline^(Etymonline) and 1921 in the OED and Barnhart, in Huxley's Crome Yellow.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) The verb, of liquid, “to form a pool”, is from the 1620s,^(Etymonline) and earlier, of land, “to be full of pools” (mid-15th century).^(Etymonline) ''Pool party'' is by 1965.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 897 – a body of standing water.^(OED 1989)

+ * mid-15th century – verb, to be full of pools.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1620s – to form a pool.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1901 – a swimming pool.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1902 – an oil deposit.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A small body of still water.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A small amount of standing liquid; a [[puddle]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A deep or still place in a stream.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A swimming pool.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # An underground accumulation of [[petroleum]] or gas.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To form a pool or pools.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Of blood, to collect in a part of the body.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[poolside]]

+ * [[rockpool]]

+ * [[whirlpool]]

+ * [[cesspool]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|stake, game}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=1693|origins=fr poule}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The stake is [[bor|fr|poule|t=stakes, booty, plunder]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) a word of uncertain origin,^(Etymonline) probably the same as poule “hen”,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) from Old French poille.^(Etymonline) The early English spelling pooile (1610s) also suggests French peuille, a piece of a new coin cut off for assay.^(Etymonline) It is related to [[pullet]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A card game with collective stakes: 1693 in Barnhart and Merriam-Webster,^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) the 1690s in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) The collective stakes themselves are recorded in Swift's Journal to Stella (1711–12).^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The game like billiards is by 1808,^(Etymonline) first recorded in Thackeray in 1848 according to Barnhart,^(Barnhart 1988) and was probably named from the stakes: unlike billiards it needed several players, each staking money.^(Etymonline) A common fund or stock shared by a group, as in ''typing pool'' and ''motor pool'', is from 1869.^(Barnhart 1988) A combination of businesses to control prices is 19th-century,^(Hoad 1986) and the verb “to put into a common fund” is from 1871.^(Etymonline) The ''football pools'' are a betting system on the results of matches.^(COED 2004)^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1693 – a card game with stakes.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1711–12 – the collective stake.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1808 – the game like billiards.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1869 – a common fund.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1871 – verb, to put into a common fund.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A game of [[billiards]] played on a table with six pockets.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The total amount staked in a game or bet.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A grouping of resources or people for common use: ''a car pool''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # An agreement between businesses to control prices or share profits.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To put into a common fund or effort.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[carpool]]

+ * [[pool table]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[puddle]]

+ * [[pullet]]

+ * [[poultry]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}