pawn

English

Pronunciation

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

Etymology 1

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”).

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.

   • 1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, OCLC 29686887 , chapter I:

     “I'm through with all pawn-games,” I laughed. “Come, let us have a game of lansquenet. Either I will take a farewell fall out of you or you will have your sevenfold revenge”.

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:pawn

Translations

chess piece

• Afrikaans: pion
• Arabic: جُنْدِيّ‏‎ (jundiyy), بَيْدَق‏‎ (baydaq)
• Armenian: զինվոր (hy) (zinvor)
• Asturian: peón m
• Breton: pezh gwerin m
• Bulgarian: пешка f (péška)
• Catalan: peó (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 兵 (bing¹), 士兵 (si⁶ bing¹), 卒 (zeot¹)

  Mandarin: 兵 (zh) (bīng)

• Czech: pěšec (cs) m
• Danish: bonde (da) c
• Dutch: pion (nl) m
• Esperanto: peono
• Estonian: ettur
• 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)
• Hungarian: gyalog (hu), (less formal) paraszt (hu)
• Ido: piono (io)
• Indonesian: bidak (id), pion (id)
• Irish: ceithearnach m, fichillín m
• Italian: pedone (it) m, pedina (it) f
• Japanese: ポーン (pōn)
• Khmer: ត្រី (km) (trəy)
• Korean: 폰 (pon), 졸 (ko) (jol) (Oriental chess)

• Latin: latro (la)
• Macedonian: пешак m (péšak), пион m (píon)
• Malay: bidak, pion, piadah
• Maori: kaihāpai-ō
• Middle Persian: 𐭯𐭣𐭠𐭲𐭪‏‎ (payādag)
• Mongolian: хүү (mn) (hüü)
• Navajo: naaʼnil
• Norwegian: bonde (no) m
• Occitan: peon 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
• Swedish: bonde (sv) c
• Tagalog: piyon
• Thai: เบี้ย (bîia)
• Translingual: ♙, ♟
• Turkish: piyon (tr)
• Turkmen: pyýada
• Yiddish: please add this translation if you can

someone who is being manipulated

• Afrikaans: pion
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 爪牙 (zh), 爪牙 (zh) (zhaoya)

• 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: Bauer (de) m (rare), Der kleine Mann m

• Greek: πιόνι (el) n (pióni), υποχείριο (el) n (ypocheírio), ενεργούμενο (el) n (energoúmeno)
• Hebrew: פיון‏‎ (he) m (pion)
• Italian: pedina (it) f
• Norwegian: brikke 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

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, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy, Oxford: Printed by Iohn Lichfield and Iames Short, for Henry Cripps, OCLC 216894069:, 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

instance of pawning something

• 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

• Danish: pant n
• Dutch: pand (nl) n
• French: gage (fr) f
• German: Pfand (de) n

• Greek: ενέχυρο (el) n (enéchyro)
• Norwegian: pant (no) n
• Swedish: pant (sv)

(rare) type of shop

• Danish: pantelåner c
• Dutch: pandjes (nl), pandjeshuis n
• Esperanto: garantipruntejo, lombardejo
• French: mont-de-piété (fr) m
• Galician: casa de empeños m
• Georgian: ლომბარდი (lombardi)
• German: Pfandleiher (de) m
• Greek: ενεχυροδανειστήριο (el) n (enechyrodaneistírio)
• Hebrew: חנות משכונות‏‎ f, בית עבוט‏‎ m

• Korean: 고물상 (ko) (gomulsang) (古物商)
• Macedonian: заложница f (zalóžnica)
• 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 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.
   • 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

Translations

give as security for loan

• Catalan: empenyorar (ca)
• Danish: pantsætte
• Dutch: verpanden (nl)
• 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 (zalóžuva)
• Mongolian: дан хийх (dan hijh)
• Norwegian: pantsette
• Portuguese: penhorar (pt), empenhar (pt)
• Romanian: amaneta (ro)
• Russian: закла́дывать (ru) (zakládyvatʹ), отдава́ть (otdavátʹ) в (v) зало́г (zalóg)
• Spanish: empeñar (es)
• Swedish: pantsätta
• Volapük: panön (vo)

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

• pawn off

Anagrams

• WPAN