different between pawn vs character

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /p??n/
• Rhymes: -??n
• (US) IPA^(key): /p?n/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /p?n/
• (Southern American English) IPA^(key): /p??n/
• Homophone: porn (non-rhotic accents)

Etymology 1

From Middle English pown, pawn, from Anglo-Norman paun, poun (“pawn, pedestrian”) ( = Old French poon, päon, pëon), from Late Latin ped?, ped?nis (“footsoldier”), from Latin p?s, ped- (“foot”). Doublet of peon.

Noun

pawn (plural pawns)

1. (chess) The most common chess piece, or a similar piece in a similar game. In chess each side has eight; moves are only forward, and attacks are only forward diagonally or en passant.
2. (figuratively) Someone who is being manipulated or used to some end.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:pawn

Derived terms

• poisoned pawn
• tall pawn

Translations

See also

• Pawn (chess) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Appendix:Chess_pieces

Etymology 2

From Middle French pan (“pledge, security”), apparently from a Germanic language (compare Middle Dutch pant, Old High German pfant).

Noun

pawn (countable and uncountable, plural pawns)

1. (uncountable) The state of being held as security for a loan, or as a pledge.

2. An instance of pawning something.

   • As therefore the morning dew is a pawn of the evening fatness, so, O Lord, let this day's comfort be the earnest of to-morrow's.

3. (now rare) An item given as security on a loan, or as a pledge.

   • , New York, 2001, p.106:

     Brokers, takers of pawns, biting userers, I will not admit; yet […] I will tolerate some kind of usery.

   • a. 1626, Francis Bacon, Of Usury

     As for mortgaging or pawning, […] men will not take pawns without use [i.e. interest].

4. (rare) A pawnshop; pawnbroker.

Translations

Verb

pawn (third-person singular simple present pawns, present participle pawning, simple past and past participle pawned)

1. To pledge; to stake or wager.
2. To give as security on a loan of money; especially, to deposit (something) at a pawn shop.
   • 1904, Henry Warren, The Customer's Guide to Banking (page 7)

     A certain, and probably an appreciable, proportion of his so-called money at call and short notice would consist of fortnightly advances made to members of the Stock Exchange against pawned stocks and shares.

   • 1965, Bob Dylan, Like a Rolling Stone

     But you'd better take your diamond ring, you'd better pawn it, babe.

Synonyms

• (to deposit at a pawn shop): hock

Translations

See also

• pawn off

Etymology 3

Noun

pawn (countable and uncountable, plural pawns)

1. Alternative form of paan
   • 1892, Chambers's Journal (volume 69, page 320)

     To our English taste, pawn is very offensive; but the natives of India relish it, and regard it as a necessity. It is much eaten by Mohammedans of both sexes, and by the natives of Bengal.

Etymology 4

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

pawn (plural pawns)

1. A gallery.

Etymology 5

Verb

pawn (third-person singular simple present pawns, present participle pawning, simple past and past participle pawned)

1. (video games) Alternative form of pwn

Anagrams

• WPAN

Middle English

Noun

pawn

1. Alternative form of pown (“pawn”)

English

Etymology

From Middle English caracter, from Old French caractere, from Latin character, from Ancient Greek ???????? (kharakt?r, “type, nature, character”), from ??????? (kharáss?, “I engrave”). Doublet of charakter.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?k??(?)kt?/, /?kæ?(?)kt?/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?kæ??kt?/
• Hyphenation: char?ac?ter

Noun

character (countable and uncountable, plural characters)

1. (countable) A being involved in the action of a story.
2. (countable) A distinguishing feature; characteristic; trait; phene.

3. (uncountable, countable) A complex of traits marking a person, group, breed, or type.

   • A man of […] thoroughly subservient character

4. (uncountable) Strength of mind; resolution; independence; individuality; moral strength.

5. (countable) A unique or extraordinary individual; a person characterized by peculiar or notable traits, especially charisma.

6. (countable) A written or printed symbol, or letter.
   • 1669, William Holder, Elements of Speech

     It were much to be wished that there were throughout the world but one sort of character for each letter to express it to the eye.

7. (countable, dated) Style of writing or printing; handwriting; the particular form of letters used by a person or people.
8. (countable, dated) A secret cipher; a way of writing in code.
9. (countable, computing) One of the basic elements making up a text file or string: a code representing a printing character or a control character.
10. (countable, informal) A person or individual, especially one who is unknown or raises suspicions.

11. (countable, mathematics) A complex number representing an element of a finite Abelian group.
12. (countable) Quality, position, rank, or capacity; quality or conduct with respect to a certain office or duty.

13. (countable, dated) The estimate, individual or general, put upon a person or thing; reputation.

    • This subterraneous passage is much mended since Seneca gave so bad a character of it.

14. (countable, dated) A reference given to a servant, attesting to their behaviour, competence, etc.
15. (countable, obsolete) Personal appearance.

Usage notes

Character is sometimes used interchangeably with reputation, but the two words have different meanings; character describes the distinctive qualities of an individual or group while reputation describes the opinions held by others regarding an individual or group. Character is internal and authentic, while reputation is external and perceived.

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Pages starting with “character”.

Translations

Verb

character (third-person singular simple present characters, present participle charactering, simple past and past participle charactered)

1. (obsolete) To write (using characters); to describe.

See also

• codepoint
• font
• glyph
• letter
• symbol
• rune
• pictogram

Latin

Etymology

From the Ancient Greek ???????? (kharakt?r).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /k?a?rak.ter/, [k?ä??äkt??r]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ka?rak.ter/, [k????kt??r]

Noun

character m (genitive charact?ris); third declension

1. branding iron
2. brand (made by a branding iron)
3. characteristic, mark, character, style

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Descendants

• Hungarian: karakter
• Galician: caritel; ? carácter
• Irish: carachtar
• Italian: carattere
• Old French: caractere
  • ? English: character
  • French: caractère
• Polish: charakter
  • ? Russian: ????????? (xarákter)
• Portuguese: caractere, carácter
• Sicilian: caràttiri
• Spanish: carácter

References

• character in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• character in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• character in Ramminger, Johann (accessed 16 July 2016) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700?^[1], pre-publication website, 2005-2016

Portuguese

Noun

character m (plural characteres)

1. Obsolete spelling of caráter (used in Portugal until September 1911 and died out in Brazil during the 1920s).