*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of pound

From Middle English pound, from Old English pund (“a pound, weight”), from Proto-West Germanic *pund, from Proto-Germanic *pundą (“pound, weight”), an early borrowing from Latin pondō (“by weight”), ablative form of pond

3 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 3 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗
verb

To wager a pound on.

noun

A unit of weight in various measurement systems. · Ellipsis of pound weight. · Various non-English units of measure. · Ellipsis of pound mass.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English pound, from Old English pund (“a pound, weight”), from Proto-West Germanic *pund, from Proto-Germanic *pundą (“pound, weight”), an early borrowing from Latin pondō (“by weight”), ablative form of pondus (“weight”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pend- (“to pull, stretch”). Cognate with Dutch pond, German Pfund, Danish, Faroese, Icelandic, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish pund. Doublet of funt, pfund, pood, and punt.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Root classification mention*(s)pend-ine-pro
  • Inherited-form mentionpoundenm
  • Inherited-form mentionpundang
  • Inherited-form mention*pundgmw-pro
  • Inherited-form mention*pundągem-pro
  • Derivation mentionpondōla
  • Derivation mention*(s)pend-ine-pro
  • Cognate mentionpondnl
  • Cognate mentionPfundde
  • Doublet mentionfunten
  • Doublet mentionpfunden
  • Doublet mentionpooden

This page abbreviates 11 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
verb

To confine in, or as in, a pound; to impound.

noun

A place for the detention of stray or wandering animals. · The people who work for the pound. · A place for the detention of automobiles that have been illegally parked, abandoned, etc. · A section of a canal between two adjacent locks.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English pounde, ponde, pund, from Old English *pund (“an enclosure”). Related to Old English pyndan (“to enclose, shut up, dam, impound”). Compare also Old English pynd (“a cistern, lake”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Inherited-form mentionpoundeenm
  • Inherited-form mention*pundang · an enclosure
  • Cognate mentionpyndanang · to enclose, shut up, dam, impound
  • Cognate mentionpyndang · a cistern, lake

This page abbreviates 2 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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Source etymology 3

Original entry ↗
verb

To strike hard, usually repeatedly. · To crush to pieces; to pulverize. · To eat or drink very quickly. · To pitch consistently to a certain location.

noun

A hard blow.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From an alteration of earlier poun, pown, from Middle English pounen, from Old English pūnian (“to pound, beat, bray, bruise, crush”), from Proto-West Germanic *pūn- (“broken pieces, rubble”). Related to Saterland Frisian Pün (“debris, fragments”), West Frisian pún (“debris, rubble”), Dutch puin (“debris, fragments, rubbish”), Low German pun (“fragments”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Inherited-form mentionpounenenm
  • Inherited-form mentionpūnianang
  • Derivation mention*pūn-gmw-pro · broken pieces, rubble
  • Cognate mentionPünstq · debris, fragments
  • Cognate mentionpúnfy · debris, rubble
  • Cognate mentionpuinnl
  • Cognate mentionpunnds

This page abbreviates 4 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for pound →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-cG91bmQ