Other forms: pawns, pawned, pawning
A pawn is the smallest and most numerous chess piece, of which each player has eight. Move a pawn, lose a pawn, a pawn structure.
Pawns move one square forward, capture diagonally, and may move two squares on their first move. A pawn that reaches the far side is promoted, almost always to a queen. Because they are the least valuable pieces, a pawn in the figurative sense is somebody used by others for their own purposes: a pawn in a much larger game. Note pawn as a separate verb — to pawn something is to leave it as security for a loan at a pawnbroker.
1nounpawnThe smallest and most numerous chess piece.
“He was a pawn down and drew the game anyway.”
2nounendsSomebody used by others for their own ends.
“They were pawns in an argument between two governments.”
3verbleaveTo leave something as security for a loan.
“He pawned the watch twice and got it back once.”
pawn is a chess piece, or something used by others.
Old French pan, a foot soldier, comes from Latin pedo — the same ped as pedestrian and pedal. The chess pawn is infantry, which explains both how it moves and how expendable the metaphor assumes it is.
Frankish
*pand — deposit, security, pledge
Old French
pan
Middle English
paun
English, today
pawn
Built from
+broker From Middle English paun, pawyn, pawnd, from Old French pan, pant (“pledge for a payment”), from a gem - language, perhaps Frankish pand (“deposit, security, pledge”), unknown. Cognate with stq 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”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA