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Added 8 October 2026

pound

/ˈpaʊ̯nd/ noun

In Latin: libra Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about pound at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

16 ounces avoirdupois.
he got a hernia when he tried to lift 100 pounds
The basic unit of money in Great Britain and Northern Ireland; equal to 100 pence.
A unit of apothecary weight equal to 12 ounces troy.

verb

Hit hard with the hand, fist, or some heavy instrument.
the salesman pounded the door knocker
Strike or drive against with a heavy impact.
ram the gate with a sledgehammer
Move heavily or clumsily.
The heavy man lumbered across the room

Origin

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.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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