pool

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See also: Pool

English[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English pool, pole, pol, from Old English pōl (“pool”), from Proto-Germanic *pōlaz (“pool, pond”), from Proto-Indo-European *bōlos (“bog, marsh”). Cognate with Scots puil (“pool”), Saterland Frisian Pol (“pool”), West Frisian poel (“pool”), Dutch poel (“pool”), Low German Pohl, Pul (“pool”), German Pfuhl (“quagmire, mudhole”), Danish pøl (“puddle”), Swedish pöl (“puddle, pool”), Icelandic pollur (“puddle”), Lithuanian bala (“bog, marsh, swamp, pool”), Latvian bala (“a muddly, treeless depression”), Russian боло́то (bolóto, “swamp, bog, marsh”).

Noun[edit]

A pool (as one supplied by a spring or occurring in the course of a stream)

pool (plural pools)

  1. A small and rather deep area of (usually) fresh water, as one supplied by a spring, or occurring in the course of a stream or river; a reservoir for water.
    the pools of Solomon
    the Pool of London
    • 1610–1611, William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act IV, scene i], page 15, column 2:
      […] at laſt I left them
      I’ th’ filthy mantled poole beyond your Cell,
      There dancing vp to th’ chins, that the fowle Lake
      Ore-ſtunck their feet.
    • 1625, Francis Bacon, “Of Marriage And Single Life. VIII.”, in The Essayes […], London: […] Iohn Haviland […], published 1632, OCLC 863527675, page 37:
      A Single Life doth well with Church-men : For Charitie will hardly water the Ground, where it muſt firſt fill a Poole.
    • 1833, Alfred Tennyson, “The Miller's Daughter”, in Poems, 5th edition, Edward Moxon, published 1848, page 86:
      I loved the brimming wave that swam
      Thro’ quiet meadows round the mill,
      The sleepy pool above the dam,
      The pool beneath it never still,
      The meal-sacks on the whiten’d floor,
      The dark round of the dripping wheel,
      The very air about the door
      Made misty with the floating meal.
  2. Any small body of standing or stagnant water; a puddle.
  3. Ellipsis of swimming pool
  4. A supply of resources.
    There is a limited pool of candidates from which to choose the new manager.
    dating pool
    • 1962 June, Rupert Shervington, “The planning and execution of the Kent Coast electrification”, in Modern Railways, page 390:
      The 4-BEP and 4-CEP stock is maintained in a common pool for both Chatham and South Eastern fast main-line services.
    • 2020 October 15, Alana Semuels, “Workers Who Were Laid Off Say They're Being Passed Over—For Their Own Jobs”, in Time‎[1]:
      This is not necessarily surprising; employers often use recessions to pay new workers less because they have such a large pool of potential applicants to choose from, says Ruth Milkman, the Labor Studies Chair at the City University of New York’s School of Labor and Urban Studies.
  5. (by extension, computing) A set of resources that are kept ready to use.
  6. A small amount of liquid on a surface.
    a pool of blood
  7. A localized glow of light.
    • 1991, Stephen King, Needful Things:
      He walked slowly, passing through one pool of light after another, his shadow running tall across the fronts of the barber shop, the Western Auto, the video-rental shop.
Derived terms[edit]
Descendants[edit]
  • → German: Pool
  • → Japanese: プール (pūru)
  • → Swedish: pool c
Translations[edit]
body of water
small body of standing or stagnant water; a puddle
swimming pool — see swimming pool
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Verb[edit]

pool (third-person singular simple present pools, present participle pooling, simple past and past participle pooled)

  1. (intransitive, of a liquid) To form a pool.

Etymology 2[edit]

From French poule (“collective stakes in a game”). The OED suggests that this may be a transferred use of poule (“hen”), which has been explained anecdotally as deriving from an old informal betting game in France - 'jeu de poule' - Game of Chicken (or Hen, literally) in which poule became synonymous with the combined money pot claimed by the winner.

Noun[edit]

pool (plural pools)

  1. (games, uncountable) A game at billiards, in which each of the players stakes a certain sum, the winner taking the whole; also, in public billiard rooms, a game in which the loser pays the entrance fee for all who engage in the game.
  3. (sports) A cue sport played on a pool table. There are 15 balls, 7 of one colour, 7 of another, and the black ball (also called the 8 ball). A player must pocket all their own colour balls and then the black ball in order to win.
  4. In rifle shooting, a contest in which each competitor pays a certain sum for every shot he makes, the net proceeds being divided among the winners.
  5. (fencing) A group of fencers taking part in a competition.
    Synonym: poule
  6. Any gambling or commercial venture in which several persons join.
  7. The stake played for in certain games of cards, billiards, etc.; an aggregated stake to which each player has contributed a share; also, the receptacle for the stakes.
  9. A combination of persons contributing money to be used for the purpose of increasing or depressing the market price of stocks, grain, or other commodities; also, the aggregate of the sums so contributed.
    The pool took all the wheat offered below the limit.
    He put $10,000 into the pool.
  10. A set of players in quadrille etc.
  11. (rail transport) A mutual arrangement between competing lines, by which the receipts of all are aggregated, and then distributed pro rata according to agreement.
  12. (law) An aggregation of properties or rights, belonging to different people in a community, in a common fund, to be charged with common liabilities.
Derived terms[edit]
Derived terms
Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

pool (third-person singular simple present pools, present participle pooling, simple past and past participle pooled)

  1. (transitive) To put together; contribute to a common fund, on the basis of a mutual division of profits or losses; to make a common interest of.
    We must pool our resources.
    • 1920, Frank L. Packard, The White Moll Chapter 4
      “She must be exceedingly clever to have beaten the police the way she has for the last few years; and—er—I worship at the shrine of cleverness—especially if it be a woman’s. The idea struck me last night that if she and I should—er—pool our resources, we should not have to complain of the reward.”
      “Oh, so youse wants to work wid her, eh?” sniffed Rhoda Gray. “So dat’s it, is it?”
    • 2007 November, Elizabeth Drake, “Combine and conquer: Use these winning food pairings to protect your health”, in Men's Health, volume 22, number 9, ISSN 1054-4836, page 124:
      It all started 6 years ago, as Rutgers University scientists Allan Conney, Ph.D., and George C. Wagner, Ph.D., chatted at an office get-together. […] From this conversation, the two decided to pool their knowledge and join forces.
    • 27 February 2010, Barack Obama, Presidential Weekly Address - Time for Us to Act
      Many on both sides agreed that we should give small businesses and individuals the ability to participate in a new insurance marketplace – which members of Congress would also use – that would allow them to pool their purchasing power and get a better deal from insurance companies.
  2. (intransitive) To combine or contribute with others, as for a commercial, speculative, or gambling transaction.
Translations[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Dutch[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Latin polus, which itself is from Ancient Greek πόλος (pólos, “axis”). Cognate with English pole.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • Audio
    		(file)
  • Hyphenation: pool

Noun[edit]

pool c (plural polen, diminutive pooltje n)

  1. magnetic pole (especially of the Earth and other celestial bodies)
  2. electrical pole (e.g. of a battery)
  3. (figuratively) an opposing side of a principle or a doctrine
Derived terms[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

From English pool.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • Audio
    		(file)
  • Hyphenation: pool

Noun[edit]

pool m (plural pools, diminutive pooltje n)

  1. a gambling venture such as a football pool
  2. the stake involved in such a venture
  3. an arrangement where people pool in money to share one resource such as a carpool
  4. (sports) pool
Derived terms[edit]

Etymology 3[edit]

From Middle Dutch pool, from Old French poil, from Latin pilus (“hair”). Cognate with English pile

Pronunciation[edit]

  • Audio
    		(file)
  • Hyphenation: pool

Noun[edit]

pool c (plural polen, diminutive pooltje n)

  1. the pile (upstanding usually fine hair) on certain fabrics, velvet or carpeting

Anagrams[edit]

Estonian[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Proto-Finnic *pooli, from Proto-Uralic *pälä. Cognates include Finnish puoli (“half, side”), Mansi па̄л (pāl, “half, side”), Hungarian fél (“half”).

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

pool (genitive poole, partitive poolt)

  1. half
  2. side
    tagumine pool
    back side
    koledam pool
    the ugly side
Inflection[edit]
Inflection of pool (ÕS type 13/suur, length gradation)
singular plural
nominative pool pooled
accusative poole pooled
genitive poole poolte
partitive poolt pooli
illative poolde
poolesse 		pooltesse
poolisse
inessive pooles pooltes
poolis
elative poolest pooltest
poolist
allative poolele pooltele
poolile
adessive poolel pooltel
poolil
ablative poolelt pooltelt
poolilt
translative pooleks poolteks
pooliks
terminative pooleni poolteni
essive poolena pooltena
abessive pooleta poolteta
comitative poolega pooltega

The nonstandard plural partitive poolesid is somewhat common in colloquial use.

Postposition[edit]

pool

  1. at, to, towards
    minu pool
    at my place
    põhja pool
    to the north, in the north
    igal pool
    everywhere
Inflection[edit]
allative: poole
adessive: pool
ablative: poolt

Etymology 2[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

pool (genitive pooli, partitive pooli)

  1. bobbin, coil
Inflection[edit]
Declension of pool (type paks)
singular plural
nominative pool poolid
genitive pooli poolide
partitive pooli poole / poolisid
illative pooli / poolisse poolidesse
inessive poolis poolides
elative poolist poolidest
allative poolile poolidele
adessive poolil poolidel
ablative poolilt poolidelt
translative pooliks poolideks
terminative poolini poolideni
essive poolina poolidena
abessive poolita poolideta
comitative pooliga poolidega
See also[edit]

Ingrian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Finnic *pooli, from Proto-Uralic *pälä. Cognates with Finnish puoli and Estonian pool.

Noun[edit]

pool (genitive poolen, partitive poolt)

  1. half

Karao[edit]

Noun[edit]

pool

  1. large fire (which causes damage)

Sambali[edit]

Noun[edit]

pool

  1. fire

Spanish[edit]

Noun[edit]

pool m (plural pooles)

  1. pool (sport)

Swedish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Since 1968; from English pool, related to Swedish pöl (“small water pool, usually on the road when it's raining”).

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

pool c

  1. a swimming pool

Declension[edit]

Declension of pool 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative pool poolen pooler poolerna
Genitive pools poolens poolers poolernas

Related terms[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Yucatec Maya[edit]

Noun[edit]

pool m

  1. head
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