pawn

CEFRB2

/ˈpɔːn/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A chess piece that moves forward and captures diagonally.

  2. 02

    noun

    A person or thing used by someone else for a purpose.

Examples

  • A clerk in the office is only a pawn in the game of big business.

  • A person who is only a pawn in the game often talks big in company.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. An instance of pawning something.

  2. An item given as security on a loan, or as a pledge.

  3. The state of being held as security for a loan, or as a pledge.

More examples

In context

  • I tilt my head. Not the pawn, but the knight?

  • All our jewellery was in pawn by this stage.

  • Though a pawn of the gods, her departure is the precipitating cause of the Trojan War.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

He moved his blank forward two squares in the opening of the chess game.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English paun, pawyn, pawnd, from Old French pan, pant (“pledge for a payment”), from a Germanic language, perhaps Frankish *pand (“deposit, security, pledge”), further origin uncertain. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Pound (“deposit, pledge, pawn”), West Frisian pân (“pawn”), Dutch pand (“pledge, pawn”), German Low German Pand (“deposit, pledge, pawn”), German Pfand (“deposit, pledge, pawn”), Swedish pant (“pledge, pawn”), Faroese pantur (“security, lien”), Icelandic pantur (“pledge, security, pawn”).