pawn

English

 Pawn on Wikipedia

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /pɔːn/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /pɔn/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /pɑn/
• (Southern US) IPA^(key): /pɑɒn/
• Homophone: porn (non-rhotic)
• Rhymes: -ɔːn

Etymology 1

English Wikipedia has an article on:

Pawn (chess)

Wikipedia

A black pawn in chess

From Middle English pown, from Anglo-Norman poun, paun (“footman”), from Late Latin pedōnem (“pedestrian”), derived fom Latin ped- (“foot”). Doublet of peon.

Noun

pawn (plural pawns)

1. (chess) The most numerous chess piece, or a similar piece in a similar game. In chess, each side starts with eight; moves are only forward, and attacks are only diagonally or en passant.
2. (figurative) Someone who is being manipulated or used to some end.

   Though a pawn of the gods, her departure is the precipitating cause of the Trojan War.

   • 2022 December 14, Mel Holley, “Network News: Strikes go on as RMT rejects RDG's "detrimental" offer”, in RAIL, number 972, page 9:

     He delivered a broadside to the RMT leadership, saying: "This response to a significantly enhanced offer exposes their true priority - using the British public and NR workers as pawns in a fight with the Government.

Synonyms

• (chess piece): Thesaurus:pawn
• (someone manipulated): manipulee

Derived terms

• advanced pawn
• backward pawn
• bishop's pawn
• central pawn
• connected pawn
• doubled pawn
• hexapawn
• isolated pawn
• king's bishop's pawn
• king's knight's pawn
• king's pawn
• king's rook's pawn
• knight's pawn
• octopawn
• outside passed pawn
• passed pawn
• pawn break
• pawn chain
• pawn cube
• pawn island
• pawn race
• pawn storm
• poisoned pawn
• queen's bishop's pawn
• queen's knight's pawn
• queen's pawn
• queen's rook's pawn
• remote passed pawn
• rook's pawn
• tall pawn
• tripled pawn
• wrong rook pawn

 

Translations

chess piece

Afrikaans: pion Albanian: ushtar (sq) m Arabic: جُنْدِيّ (ar) m (jundiyy), بَيْدَق (ar) m (baydaq) Armenian: զինվոր (hy) (zinvor) Asturian: peón m Azerbaijani: piyada (az) Belarusian: пе́шка f (pjéška), ла́тнік m (látnik), ні́жнік m (nížnik) Bengali: বোড়ে (bn) (bōṛe) Breton: pezh gwerin m Bulgarian: пе́шка f (péška) Burmese: နယ် (my) (nai) (in some games) Catalan: peó (ca) m Chinese: Cantonese: 兵 (bing1), 士兵 (si6 bing1), 卒 (zeot1) Hokkien: 士兵 (zh-min-nan) (sū-peng), 兵 (zh-min-nan) (peng) Mandarin: 兵 (zh) (bīng) Czech: pěšec (cs) m Danish: bonde (da) c Dutch: pion (nl) m Esperanto: peono (eo) Estonian: ettur (et) Faroese: finna f Finnish: sotilas (fi) French: pion (fr) m Galician: peón (gl) m Georgian: პაიკი (ṗaiḳi) German: Bauer (de) m Greek: πιόνι (el) n (pióni), στρατιώτης (el) m (stratiótis) Hebrew: חייל (he) m (chayal), רגלי (he) m (ragli) Hindi: प्यादा (hi) m (pyādā), पियादा (hi) m (piyādā), सिपाही (hi) m (sipāhī) Hungarian: gyalog (hu), (less formal) paraszt (hu) Icelandic: bóndi (is) m Ido: piono (io) Indonesian: bidak (id), pion (id) Irish: ceithearnach m, fichillín m Italian: pedone (it) m, pedina (it) f Japanese: ポーン (ja) (pōn) Javanese: bidhag (jv) Kazakh: сарбаз (sarbaz), пешка (peşka) Khmer: ត្រី (km) (trəy) Korean: 폰 (pon), 졸 (ko) (jol) (Oriental chess) Kyrgyz: пешка (peşka) Lao: ເບ້ຍ (bīa) Latin: latro (la) Latvian: bandinieks m Lithuanian: pėstininkas m Macedonian: пешак m (pešak), пион m (pion) Malay: bidak (ms), pion, piadah Malayalam: കാലാൾ (ml) (kālāḷ, literally “foot soldier”) Maori: kaihāpai-ō, kurumetometo Middle English: pown Middle Persian: 𐭯𐭣𐭠𐭲𐭪 (pdʾtk /⁠payādag⁠/) Mongolian: Cyrillic: хүү (mn) (xüü) Navajo: naaʼnil Nepali: सिपाही (ne) (sipāhī) Norwegian: bonde (no) m Occitan: peon (oc) m Ojibwe: ganoodiye Persian: سرباز (fa) (sarbâz), پیاده (fa) (piyâde) Plautdietsch: Büa m Polish: pion (pl) m, pionek (pl) m Portuguese: peão (pt) m Romanian: pion (ro) m Russian: пе́шка (ru) f (péška) Scottish Gaelic: pàn m Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: пешак m / пјешак m, пион m Roman: pešak (sh) m / pješak (sh) m, pion (sh) m Slovak: pešiak m Slovene: kmet (sl) m Spanish: peón (es) m Swahili: kitunda Swedish: bonde (sv) c Tagalog: piyon Tajik: пиёда (tg) (piyoda), сарбоз (sarboz) Thai: เบี้ย (th) (bîia) Turkish: piyon (tr) Turkmen: pyýada, peşka Ukrainian: піша́к m (pišák) Urdu: پیاده m (pyāda) Uyghur: پىيادە (piyade), پېشكا (pëshka) Uzbek: piyoda (uz), sarboz (uz), peshka Vietnamese: tốt (vi), chốt (vi) Yiddish: פּיאָן m (pyon)

someone who is being manipulated

Afrikaans: pion Albanian: gur shahu m Azerbaijani: peşka, piyada (az) Bulgarian: пио́нка f (piónka) Chinese: Cantonese: 棋 (kei4-2) Mandarin: (please verify) 爪牙 (zh) (zhaoya) Czech: figurka (cs) f Danish: brik c (in someone's game) Dutch: pion (nl) m, kleine man m Finnish: pelinappula (fi) French: pion (fr) m Galician: peón (gl) m Georgian: პაიკი (ṗaiḳi) German: Schachfigur (de) f Greek: πιόνι (el) n (pióni), υποχείριο (el) n (ypocheírio), ενεργούμενο (el) n (energoúmeno) Hebrew: פיון (he) m (pion) Italian: pedina (it) f Japanese: 駒 (ja) (koma) Maori: kurumetometo Norwegian: brikke (no) m Polish: pionek (pl) m Portuguese: peão (pt) m Russian: пе́шка (ru) f (péška) Spanish: peón (es) m Swedish: bricka (sv) c Turkish: piyon (tr), oyuncak (tr)

See also

• ♙, ♟
• Pawn (chess) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Appendix:Chess pieces

Chess pieces in English · chess pieces, chessmen (see also: chess) (layout · text)
king	queen	rook, castle	bishop	knight	pawn

Etymology 2

English Wikipedia has an article on:

Pawnbroker

Wikipedia

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

Noun

pawn (countable and uncountable, plural pawns)

1. (uncountable) The state of being held as security for a loan, or as a pledge.

   All our jewellery was in pawn by this stage.

2. An instance of pawning something.
   • 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The life and death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:

     Redeem from broking pawn the blemish'd crown.

   • 1624, John Donne, Deuotions upon Emergent Occasions, and Seuerall Steps in My Sicknes: […], London: Printed by A[ugustine] M[atthews] for Thomas Iones, →OCLC; republished as Geoffrey Keynes, edited by John Sparrow, Devotions upon Emergent Occasions: […], Cambridge: At the University Press, 1923, →OCLC:

     As therefore 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.
   • c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:

     My life I never held but as a pawn / To wage against thy enemies.

   • 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC:

     Brokers, takers of pawns, biting userers, I will not admit; yet […] I will tolerate some kind of usery.

   • 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Usury”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC:

     As for mortgaging or pawning, […] men will not take pawns without use [i.e. interest].

4. (rare) A pawnshop; pawnbroker.

Translations

instance of pawning something

Bulgarian: залог (bg) m (zalog) Chinese: Mandarin: 典當／典当 (zh) (diǎndàng), 典押 (zh) (diǎnyā) Czech: zástava f Danish: pantsætning c Dutch: verpanding f Finnish: panttaus French: prêt sur gage m Galician: empeño (gl) m German: Verpfändung f Greek: ενεχυρίαση (el) f (enechyríasi) Portuguese: penhora (pt) f Spanish: empeño (es) m Swedish: pant (sv)

item sold to a pawn shop

Bulgarian: залог (bg) m (zalog) Danish: pant (da) n Dutch: pand (nl) n Finnish: pantti (fi) French: gage (fr) f German: Pfand (de) n, Versatzstück (de) n Greek: ενέχυρο (el) n (enéchyro) Hebrew: עבוט (he) m (avót) Norwegian: pant (no) n Swedish: pant (sv)

(rare) type of shop

Danish: pantelåner c Dutch: pandjes (nl), pandjeshuis (nl) n Esperanto: garantipruntejo, lombardejo Finnish: panttilainaamo (fi) French: mont-de-piété (fr) m Galician: casa de empeños m Georgian: ლომბარდი (lombardi) German: Pfandleiher (de) m, Pfandhaus (de) n, Leihhaus (de) n Greek: ενεχυροδανειστήριο (el) n (enechyrodaneistírio) Hebrew: בית עבוט m (bet avót) Korean: 고물상(古物商) (ko) (gomulsang) Macedonian: заложница f (založnica) Norwegian: Bokmål: pantelåner m Portuguese: topa-tudo m, casa de penhores f, penhora (pt) f Russian: ломба́рд (ru) m (lombárd) Spanish: casa de empeños f Swedish: pantbank (sv) c

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.
   • 1904, Henry Warren, The Customer's Guide to Banking, page 7:

     A certain, and probably an appreciable, proportion of his so-called money at call and short notice would consist of fortnightly advances made to members of the Stock Exchange against pawned stocks and shares.

   • 1965, Bob Dylan, Like a Rolling Stone:

     But you'd better take your diamond ring, you'd better pawn it, babe.

Synonyms

• (to deposit at a pawn shop): hock, lumber, pledge, spout, vamp

Derived terms

• pawn off as

Translations

give as security for loan

Bulgarian: залагам (bg) (zalagam) Catalan: empenyorar (ca) Czech: zastavit (cs) pf, dát do zástavy pf Danish: pantsætte Dutch: verpanden (nl) Esperanto: lombardi Finnish: pantata (fi) French: engager (fr), mettre au clou (fr) (colloquial), mettre en gage Galician: empeñar (gl) m Georgian: დალომბარდება (dalombardeba) German: verpfänden (de) Greek: ενεχυριάζω (el) (enechyriázo) Ido: gajigar (io) Macedonian: заложува (založuva) Mongolian: дан хийх (dan xiix) Norwegian: pantsette Portuguese: penhorar (pt), empenhar (pt) Romanian: amaneta (ro) Russian: закла́дывать (ru) (zakládyvatʹ), отдава́ть в зало́г (otdavátʹ v zalóg) Spanish: empeñar (es), pignorar (es) Swedish: pantsätta (sv) Volapük: panön (vo)

See also

• pawn off

Etymology 3

Noun

pawn (countable and uncountable, plural pawns)

1. Alternative form of paan
   • 1832, Meer Hassan Ali, Observations on the Mussulmauns of India:

     A tray filled with pawns, prepared with the usual ingredients, as lime cuttie (a bitter gum), betel-nut, tobacco, spices, &c.

   • 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

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

pawn (plural pawns)

1. A gallery.

Etymology 5

Verb

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

1. (video games) Alternative form of pwn

Anagrams

• WPAN

Middle English

Noun

pawn

1. Alternative form of pown (“pawn”)