pawn
1 (pôn)
[Middle English paun, from Old French pan, of Germanic origin.]
noun
- Something given as security for a loan; a pledge or guaranty.
- The condition of being held as a pledge against the payment of a loan: jewels in pawn.
- A person serving as security; a hostage.
- The act of pawning.
transitive verb: pawned, pawn·ing, pawns.
- To give or deposit (personal property) as security for the payment of money borrowed.
- To risk; hazard: pawn one's honor.
phrasal verbs
- pawn off
- To dispose or get rid of deceptively: tried to pawn off the fake gemstone as a diamond.
derivatives
- pawńa·ble
- adjective
- pawńage
- noun
- pawńer
- noun
pawn
2 (pôn)
[Middle English, from Old French pedon, paon, from Medieval Latin pedō, pedōn-, foot soldier, from Late Latin, one who has wide feet, from Latin pēs, ped-, foot.]
noun
- Games A chess piece of lowest value that may move forward one square at a time or two squares in the first move, capture other pieces only on a one-space diagonal forward move, and be promoted to any piece other than a king upon reaching the eighth rank.
- A person or an entity used to further the purposes of another: an underdeveloped nation that was a pawn in international politics.
