pwn

See also: PWN

Translingual

Etymology

Abbreviation of English Paiwan, from Chinese 排灣 / 排湾 (Páiwān).

Symbol

pwn

1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Paiwan.

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Paiwan terms

English

Etymology

From own, possibly born out of a typographical error (the adjacency of o and p on qwerty keyboards).

Pronunciation

Originally pronounced /əʊn/ (UK) / /oʊn/ (US), like own.(US). Superseded by:

• (UK) IPA^(key): /pəʊn/, /pɔːn/, (rarely) /piˈəʊn/
• (US) IPA^(key): /poʊn/, /piˈoʊn/, /pɔn/, (rarely) /piˈɔn/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔːn, -əʊn, -ɔn, -oʊn

Verb

pwn (third-person singular simple present pwns, present participle pwning, simple past and past participle pwned or pwnd or pwnt)

1. (dated, Internet slang, online gaming, originally leetspeak, ambitransitive) To own, to defeat or dominate (someone or something, especially a game or someone playing a game).

   Synonyms: own, pwnz0r

   I pwned them in game!

   • 1999 August 5, Quaestor, “Re: [SP] So..the first victim of the Evil/Hero System”, in rec.games.computer.ultima.online‎^[1] (Usenet), retrieved 23 September 2016, message-ID <37AA8154.D77E6EB8@Skara.Brae>:

     2nd guard: "Yeah, shiiit! I PWNED YO @zz!"

   • 2001, Edward Glamkowski, alt.games.diablo2‎^[2] (Usenet):

     Otherwise I use fury as my normal attack. Fury completely pwns!

   • 2003, James Grahame, alt.games.everquest‎^[3] (Usenet):

     When you get to the Temple of Marr, look very closely at the vases at zone-in and see if you can find the picture where Mith Marr "pwns" someone.

   • 2004, Bronney Hui, alt.comp.periphs.videocards.nvidia‎^[4] (Usenet):

     My Trident pwns the Cirrus Logics!

   • 2005, AlphaDream, Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, Nintendo:

     NOOBZ STILL R NOT PWNED. CONTINUE PWNERSHIP UNTIL ALL NOOBZ R PWNED.

   • 2025 August 7, Zach Vasquez, “From puppy murder to racist podcasts: South Park’s anti-deportation episode is utterly ruthless TV”, in The Guardian‎^[5], →ISSN:

     The episode follows two different stories: in one, the show’s resident bigot, Eric Cartman, is outraged to learn that fellow fourth grader Clyde has risen to prominence as a white nationalist podcaster who makes offensive claims about women, Jewish people, Black people and other minority groups to goad them into debating him in exploitative viral videos (“WOKE STUDENT TOTALLY PWNED”).

Derived terms

• pwnage
• pwner
• pwnz0r
• wtfpwn

Noun

pwn (countable and uncountable, plural pwns)

1. (Internet slang, originally leetspeak) Triumph, victory. Often exclaimed after an opponent in a video game is defeated.
2. (Internet slang, computer security, originally leetspeak) An exploit in computer security, especially relating to machine code.

Anagrams

• PNW, wpn.

Welsh

Etymology

Inherited from Middle Welsh pwnn, from Vulgar Latin *pundus, from Latin pondus (“weight”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pʊn/
• Rhymes: -ʊn

Noun

pwn m (plural pynnau)

1. load, burden

   Synonyms: llwyth, baich

Derived terms

• pynfarch (“packhorse”)
• trwybwn (“throughput”)

Mutation

Mutated forms of pwn

radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
pwn	bwn	mhwn	phwn

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• D. G. Lewis, N. Lewis, editors (2005–present), “pwn”, in Gweiadur: the Welsh–English Dictionary, Gwerin
• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke, et al., editors (1950–present), “pwn”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies