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Webster 1913 Edition

Pawn

Pawn

,
Noun.
See
Pan
, the masticatory.

Pawn

,
Noun.
[OE.
paune
,
poun
, OF.
peon
,
poon
, F.
pion
, LL.
pedo
a foot soldier, fr. L.
pes
,
pedis
, foot. See
Foot
, and cf.
Pioneer
,
Peon
.]
(Chess)
A man or piece of the lowest rank.

Pawn

,
Noun.
[OF.
pan
pledge, assurance, skirt, piece, F.
pan
skirt, lappet, piece, from L.
pannus
. See
Pane
.]
1.
Anything delivered or deposited as security, as for the payment of money borrowed, or of a debt; a pledge. See
Pledge
,
Noun.
, 1.
As for mortgaging or pawning, . . . men will not take
pawns
without use [i. e., interest].
Bacon.
2.
State of being pledged; a pledge for the fulfillment of a promise.
[R.]
Redeem from broking
pawn
the blemish’d crown.
Shakespeare
As the morning dew is a
pawn
of the evening fatness.
Donne.
3.
A stake hazarded in a wager.
[Poetic]
My life I never held but as a
pawn

To wage against thy enemies.
Shakespeare
In pawn
,
At pawn
,
in the state of being pledged.
“Sweet wife, my honor is at pawn.”
Shak.
–
Pawn shop
,
a shop where a pawnbroker does business.
–
Pawn ticket
,
a receipt given by the pawnbroker for an article pledged.

Pawn

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Pawned
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Pawning
.]
1.
To give or deposit in pledge, or as security for the payment of money borrowed; to put in pawn; to pledge;
as, to
pawn
one's watch
.

Syn. – hock [colloq].
And
pawned
the last remaining piece of plate.
Dryden.
2.
To pledge for the fulfillment of a promise; to stake; to risk; to wager; to hazard.
Pawning
his honor to obtain his lust.
Shakespeare

Webster 1828 Edition

Pawn

PAWN

,
Noun.
[L. pignus.]
1.
Something given or deposited as security for the payment of money borrowed; a pledge. Pawn is applied only to goods, chattels or money, and not to real estate.
Men will not take pawns without use.
2.
A pledge for the fulfillment of a promise.
3.
A common man at chess. [See Peon.]
In pawn, at pawn, the state of being pledged.
Sweet wife, my honor is at pawn.

PAWN

,
Verb.
T.
[L. pignero.]
1.
To give or deposit in pledge, or as security for the payment of money borrowed; to pledge; as, she pawned the last piece of plate.
2.
To pledge for the fulfillment of a promise; as, to pawn one's word or honor that an agreement shall be fulfilled.

Definition 2024

pawn

pawn

English

Noun

pawn ‎(plural pawns)

  1. (chess) The most common chess piece, or a similar piece in a similar game. In chess each side has eight; moves are only forward, attacks are only forward diagonally or en passant.
  2. (colloquial) Someone who is being manipulated or used to some end, usually not the end that individual would prefer.
    Though a pawn of the gods, her departure is the precipitating cause of the Trojan War.‎
Synonyms
  • See also Wikisaurus:pawn
Translations

See also

Chess pieces in English · chess pieces, chessmen (see also: chess) (layout · text)
♚ ♛ ♜ ♝ ♞ ♟
king queen castle, rook bishop knight pawn

Etymology 2

From Middle French pan ‎(“pledge, security”), apparently from a Germanic language (compare Middle Dutch pant, Old High German pfant).

Noun

pawn ‎(plural pawns)

  1. The state of being held as security for a loan, or as a pledge.
    All our jewellery was in pawn by this stage.
    • Shakespeare
      My life I never held but as a pawn / To wage against thy enemies.
  2. An instance of pawning something.
    • Shakespeare
      Redeem from broking pawn the blemish'd crown.
    • John Donne
      As the morning dew is a pawn of the evening fatness, so, O Lord, let this day's comfort be the earnest of to-morrow's.
  3. (now rare) An item given as security on a loan, or as a pledge.
    • 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, New York, 2001, p.106:
      Brokers, takers of pawns, biting userers, I will not admit; yet […] I will tolerate some kind of usery.
    • Francis Bacon
      As for mortgaging or pawning, […] men will not take pawns without use [i.e. interest].
  4. (rare) A pawn shop, pawnbroker.
Translations

Verb

pawn ‎(third-person singular simple present pawns, present participle pawning, simple past and past participle pawned)

  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.
Synonyms
  • (to deposit at a pawn shop): hock
Translations

Etymology 3

Noun

pawn ‎(uncountable)

  1. Alternative form of paan
    • 1892, Chambers's Journal (volume 69, page 320)
      To our English taste, pawn is very offensive; but the natives of India relish it, and regard it as a necessity. It is much eaten by Mohammedans of both sexes, and by the natives of Bengal.

Etymology 4

Verb

pawn ‎(third-person singular simple present pawns, present participle pawning, simple past and past participle pawned)

  1. (video games) Alternative form of pwn

See also

Anagrams

Etymology

A pawn (chess)

Borrowing from Anglo-Norman paun, poun ‎(“pawn, pedestrian”) ( = Old French poon, paon), from Late Latin pedō, pedonis ‎(“footsoldier”), from Latin pēs, ped- ‎(“foot”).

Pronunciation

Similar Results