pawn

1 of 3

noun (1)

ˈpȯn 

ˈpän

1

: one of the chessmen of least value having the power to move only forward ordinarily one square at a time, to capture only diagonally forward, and to be promoted to any piece except a king upon reaching the eighth rank

2

: one that can be used to further the purposes of another

pawn

2 of 3

noun (2)

1

a

: something delivered to or deposited with another as security for a loan

b

: hostage

2

: the state of being pledged

3

: something used as a pledge : guaranty

4

: the act of pawning

pawn

3 of 3

verb

pawned; pawning; pawns

transitive verb

: to deposit in pledge or as security especially in exchange for money

pawner

ˈpȯ-nər 

ˈpä-

noun

or less commonly pawnor

ˈpȯ-nər 

ˈpä-;

pȯ-ˈnȯr,

pä-

Synonyms

Noun (1)

• cat's-paw
• instrument
• lay figure
• puppet
• tool

Noun (2)

• gage
• guarantee
• guaranty
• pledge
• security

Verb

• hock
• pledge

Examples of pawn in a Sentence

Noun (1)

though he liked to play up his influence with city hall, he was really just another pawn of the political bosses

Noun (2)

offered her license as a pawn that she would bring back the rental canoe

Verb

She was forced to pawn her diamond ring.

he pawned his antique watch in order to pay off his gambling debt

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Human beings are motivated by virtue (knights) or rigid self-interest (knaves), or are passive victims of their circumstances (pawns). —Sachin H. Jain, Forbes, 20 Dec. 2024

Democrats, for their part, are livid over Musk's early flex, accusing Republicans of being pawns to an oligarch. —Tal Axelrod, ABC News, 19 Dec. 2024

Verb

Here, Morgan Murphy simply ignores the talk-show question she’s asked and chooses instead to try to pawn a used desk of hers off on someone in the audience. —Hershal Pandya, Vulture, 6 Sep. 2024

To the show’s not-really-defense, it’s never taken a strong stance on Jimmy’s new approach, which followed a year of catatonia, debauchery and pawning his teenage daughter Alice (Lukita Maxwell) off on their neighbor Liz (Christa Miller) to surrogate parent. —Alison Herman, Variety, 16 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English powne, paun, borrowed from Anglo-French poun, paun, peoun "person traveling on foot, pawn in chess" (continental Old French also peon, pion "foot soldier"), going back to Late Latin pedōn-, pedō "person with flat feet, person going on foot" (Medieval Latin, "foot soldier") from Latin ped-, pēs foot entry 1 + -ōn-, -ō, suffix of nouns denoting persons with a prominent characteristic

Note: Anglo-French poun, paun reflects northern or eastern French dialects, where metaphony of the original pretonic front vowel has apparently resulted in a back vowel—unlike central French, where /ɛ/ was raised to /i/ and later lost syllabicity (hence Modern French pion). In Middle English—in at least the realization that has survived in Modern English—the vowel nucleus fell in with the au diphthong that arose from French an- plus a dental consonant. Compare pioneer entry 1, peon.

Noun (2)

Middle English pawyn, paun, borrowed from Middle French (Walloon, French Flanders) pan "pledge, surety," probably borrowed from one or more Germanic words, as Middle Dutch and Middle Low German pant "security, pledge," going back to West Germanic *panda- (whence also Old Frisian pand, pond "surety," Old Saxon pand, Old High German pfant), of uncertain origin

Note: The vowel of the Modern English word reflects an earlier diphthong that is the regular Anglo-French outcome of -an- plus a dental consonant, though textual evidence for pan in Anglo-French appears to be lacking. In Scots the word is attested as pawnd in 1431, several decades earlier than the first attestations in England, and forms with a final d still are found in Scotland in the eighteenth century. The earliest and apparently the sole Medieval Latin evidence for pandum in Britain is also in a Scottish text, from the twelfth century. As pan "pledge" in medieval French is identical with pan "piece of cloth, tail of a shirt" (see pane), it has been claimed that they are the same word, a piece of cloth having served as the token of a surety given to a creditor; the Germanic words would then have been borrowed from French. This would leave the final -t/-d of the Germanic words unexplained, however. Moreover, the Germanic words are attested earlier—eighth century for Old High German pfant, eleventh century for Old Saxon pand—while the French word is apparently first attested in 1214 (per Französisches etymologisches Wörterbuch), and from regions (French Flanders, Hainaut, Lorraine) in contact with Germanic speakers. The source of the Germanic word is uncertain—see discussion in Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen. If the word was a borrowing of Latin pondus "weight" (see pound entry 1), it must have taken place at a very early date, before the separation of a and o by quantity in proto-Germanic.

Verb

derivative of pawn entry 2

First Known Use

Noun (1)

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (2)

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

circa 1566, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing pawn

• passed pawn
• pawn off

Kids Definition

pawn

1 of 3 noun

ˈpȯn 

ˈpän

1

: the piece of least value in the game of chess

2

: one that can be used to further the purposes of another

pawn

2 of 3 noun

1

: something given as a guarantee of repayment of a loan

2

: the state of being pledged

the watch was in pawn

pawn

3 of 3 verb

: to leave as a guarantee of repayment of a loan

pawn a watch

pawner noun

Etymology

Noun

Middle English pown "chess piece representing an ordinary soldier," from early French peoun, paun (same meaning), from Latin pedon-, pedo "foot soldier," derived from earlier ped-, pes "foot" — related to pedestrian

Noun

Middle English paun "something given as a guarantee of repayment of a loan"

Legal Definition

pawn

1 of 2 noun

ˈpȯn 

1

a

: a pledge and transfer of possession of movable or personal property to a creditor which gives the creditor the privilege of satisfying the debt from the property (as by selling it) if the debt is not repaid within a specified time

also : the property pledged

shall not take as a pawn any workman's tools

compare antichresis

b

: the state of being so pledged or burdened by such a pledge

goods held in pawn

2

: the act of pawning

pawn

2 of 2 transitive verb

: to put (personal or movable property) in pawn

when it is redeemed by the person who pawned it

compare hypothecate

pawner

ˈpȯ-nər 

noun

or pawnor

same or pȯ-ˈnȯr