ponce

See also: Ponce

English

Etymology 1

Uncertain, but probably an aphetic form of French alphonse (“kept man”), from the male given name Alphonse. Also sometimes connected to pounce or French pensionnaire (“pensioner, person living without working”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɒns/

• Audio (Australia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒns

Noun

ponce (plural ponces) (UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, derogatory, slang)

1. A man living off another's earnings, especially a woman's.
   1. Synonym of kept man. [1859]
   2. Synonym of pimp, especially one hired by a prostitute as a tout, bodyguard, and driver. [1872]
2. Synonym of poof: an effeminate gay man; any similarly effeminate man. [1932]
   • 2000, Sexy Beast (motion picture), spoken by Don Logan (Ben Kingsley):

     Thanks Don, see you Don, off to sunny Spain now Don, fuck off Don. Lying in your pool like a fat blob laughing at me, you think I'm gonna have that? You really think I'm gonna have that, ya ponce.

Synonyms

• (kept man): cicisbeo, sugar baby
• (pimp): fleshmonger, hustler, mack; see also Thesaurus:pimp
• (effeminate gay man): fairy, nelly; see also Thesaurus:gay man
• (effeminate man): cockney, girlyman, quiche-eater; see also Thesaurus:effeminate man

Derived terms

• ponce wheel
• poncy

Translations

man living off a woman's earnings

• German: Zuhälter (de) m, Gigolo (de) m, Schnorrer (de) m
• Hungarian: (pimp) strici (hu), futtató (hu), kerítő (hu), (kept man) dzsigoló (hu), selyemfiú (hu)

pimp

• Czech: pasák (cs) m, kuplíř (cs) m

Verb

ponce (third-person singular simple present ponces, present participle poncing, simple past and past participle ponced) (UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, slang)

1. To act as a pimp.
2. (by extension) To try to get rid of or sell something.
3. To borrow (something) from somebody without returning it.
4. To cadge.
5. (derogatory) To behave in a posh or effeminate manner.
   • 1992, Michael Swanwick, Stations of the Tide:

     The interior was warm and dim, cluttered with flying brass pigs and poncing felt mannequins.

Synonyms

• (to act as a pimp): hustle, whore out; see also Thesaurus:pimp out

Etymology 2

Borrowed from French panse (“belly”).

Noun

ponce (plural ponces)

1. (Louisiana) The stomach of a pig, especially when stuffed as chaudin (a Louisianan food).
   • 1973, Mercedes Vidrine, Louisiana Lagniappe, Claitor's Law Books and Publishing, →ISBN, page 23:

     STUFFED "PONCE"
     1 small hog ponce
     3 lbs . ground pork
     1 large bell pepper, chopped
     1 large onion head chopped
     […]

   • 2016, George Graham, Acadiana Table: Cajun and Creole Home Cooking from the Heart of Louisiana, Harvard Common Press, →ISBN, page 258:

     […] before Escoffier and the five mother sauces, even before Brillat-Savarin, French Acadian cooks in South Louisiana kitchens prepared ponce.

Anagrams

• Copen, NOPEC

French

Etymology

From Latin pūmex (via a Late Latin pōmex).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɔ̃s/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Noun

ponce f (plural ponces)

1. pumice
2. (Quebec) hot alcoholic beverage made with gin or rum

Related terms

• poncer
• poncif

Descendants

• → Ottoman Turkish: پونزه (ponza), پامزه (pamza), پومزه (pomza)
  • Turkish: ponza

Further reading

• “ponce”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Italian

Alternative forms

• poncio

Etymology

Borrowed from English punch, from Hindi पाँच (pā̃c, “five”), because of the drink's original five ingredients (spirits, water, lemon juice, sugar, and spice), from Sanskrit पञ्च (páñca).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɔn.t͡ʃe/
• Rhymes: -ɔntʃe
• Hyphenation: pòn‧ce

Noun

ponce m (uncountable)

1. punch (beverage)

Further reading

• “ponce”, in Vocabolario Treccani on line (in Italian), Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 2026