Etymograph

English

pound

Pound comes from Middle English pound ‘a measurement for weight, most notably the…’, and perhaps goes back to Proto-Indo-European *(s)pend- ‘to pull, stretch’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)pend-1‘to pull, stretch’uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpondus1‘weight’uncertain
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpondō1‘by weight’ablative form of pondus
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*pundą1‘pound, weight’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*pund1‘pound (weight)’reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150pund1‘a pound, weight’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pound1‘a measurement for weight, most notably the Tower pound’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1854pound1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English pound
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1854, Dickens: “‘Good-bye, my dear!' said Sleary. 'You'll make your fortun,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)pend-Wiktionary, English pound‘to pull, stretch’uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpondusWiktionary, English pound‘weight’uncertain
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpondōWiktionary, English pound‘by weight’ablative form of pondus
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*pundąWiktionary, English pound‘pound, weight’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*pundWiktionary, English pound‘pound (weight)’reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150pundWiktionary, English pound‘a pound, weight’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500poundWiktionary, English pound‘a measurement for weight, most notably the Tower pound’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1854poundWiktionary, English pound. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1854, Dickens: “‘Good-bye, my dear!' said Sleary. 'You'll make your fortun,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)pend- ‘to pull, stretch’

expensive, spend, compensation, expense, pension, span, depend, compensate, expenditure, appendix, pendant, perpendicular, penthouse, 28 more

through Latin pondus ‘weight’

13 more

through Old English pund ‘a pound, weight’

1 more

through Middle English pound ‘a measurement for weight, most notably the…’

1 more

Another origin of pound

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150*pund‘an enclosure’reconstructed
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pounde
  3. Englishtodaypound

Another origin of pound

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*pūn-‘broken pieces, rubble’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150pūnian‘to pound, beat, bray, bruise, crush’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pounen‘to pound to dust’
  4. Englishtodaypound

Today it means

noun A unit of weight in various measurement systems.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “pound”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)pend- / pound

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