English
pound
Pound comes from Middle English pound ‘a measurement for weight, most notably the…’, and goes back to Latin pondō.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpondō‘by weight’
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*pundą‘pound, weight’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*pund‘pound (weight)’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150pund‘a pound, weight’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pound‘a measurement for weight, most notably the Tower pound’
- Englishearliest quotation 1854same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpondō‘by weight’
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*pundą‘pound, weight’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*pund‘pound (weight)’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150pund‘a pound, weight’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pound‘a measurement for weight, most notably the Tower pound’
- Englishearliest quotation 1854same form
Earliest quotation: 1854, Dickens: “‘Good-bye, my dear!' said Sleary. 'You'll make your fortun,…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)pend- ‘to pull, stretch’
expensive, spend, compensation, expense, pension, span, depend, compensate, expenditure, appendix, pendant, perpendicular, penthouse, peso, compendium, dispensation, pansy, poise, expend, pensive, recompense, append, piso, 18 more
through Latin pondus ‘weight’
through Old English pund ‘a pound, weight’
through Middle English pound ‘a measurement for weight, most notably the…’
Another origin of pound
- Old Englishc. 450–1150*pund‘an enclosure’reconstructed
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pounde
- Englishtodaypound
Another origin of pound
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*pūn-‘broken pieces, rubble’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150pūnian‘to pound, beat, bray, bruise, crush’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pounen‘to pound to dust’
- Englishtodaypound
Today it means
noun A unit of weight in various measurement systems.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin pondō / pound