roscoe pound


Ezra Loomis [loo-mis] , 1885–1972, U.S. poet.
Louise, 1872–1958, U.S. scholar and linguist.
her brother, Roscoe, 1870–1964, U.S. legal scholar and writer. Unabridged
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World English Dictionary
pound1 (paʊnd)
vb (when intr, often foll by on or at) (foll by out)
1.  to strike heavily and often
2.  (tr) to beat to a pulp; pulverize
3.  (tr) to instil by constant drilling: to pound Latin into him
4.  to produce, as by typing heavily
5.  to walk (the pavement, street, etc) repeatedly: he pounded the pavement looking for a job
6.  (intr) to throb heavily
7.  a heavy blow; thump
8.  the act of pounding
[Old English pūnian; related to Dutch puin rubble]

pound2 (paʊnd)
1.  lb an avoirdupois unit of weight that is divided into 16 ounces and is equal to 0.453 592 kilograms
2.  lb tr, Abbreviation: lb t a troy unit of weight divided into 12 ounces equal to 0.373 242 kilograms
3.  an apothecaries' unit of weight, used in the US, that is divided into 5760 grains and is equal to one pound troy
4.  (not in technical usage) lbf a unit of force equal to the mass of 1 pound avoirdupois where the acceleration of free fall is 32.174 feet per second per second
5.  a.  Official name: pound sterling the standard monetary unit of the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, and various UK overseas territories, divided into 100 pence
 b.  (as modifier): a pound coin
6.  the standard monetary unit of the following countries
 a.  Cyprus: divided into 100 cents
 b.  Egypt: divided into 100 piastres
 c.  Lebanon: divided into 100 piastres
 d.  Syria: divided into 100 piastres
7.  another name for lira
8.  Also called: pound Scots a former Scottish monetary unit originally worth an English pound but later declining in value to 1 shilling 8 pence
9.  Also called: punt the former standard monetary unit of the Republic of Ireland, divided into 100 pence; replaced by the euro in 2002
10.  a former monetary unit of the Sudan replaced by the dinar in 1992
[Old English pund, from Latin pondō pound; related to German Pfund pound, Latin pondus weight]

pound3 (paʊnd)
1.  an enclosure, esp one maintained by a public authority, for keeping officially removed vehicles or distrained goods or animals, esp stray dogs
2.  a place where people are confined
3.  a.  a trap for animals
 b.  See pound net a trap or keepnet for fish
4.  (tr) to confine in or as if in a pound; impound, imprison, or restrain
[C14: from Late Old English pund- as in pundfealdpinfold]

Pound (paʊnd)
Ezra (Loomis). 1885--1972, US poet, translator, and critic, living in Europe. Indicted for treason by the US government (1945) for pro-Fascist broadcasts during World War II, he was committed to a mental hospital until 1958. He was a founder of imagism and championed the early work of such writers as T. S. Eliot, Joyce, and Hemingway. His life work, the Cantos (1925--70), is an unfinished sequence of poems, which incorporates mythological and historical materials in several languages as well as political, economic, and autobiographical elements

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Word Origin & History

"measure of weight," O.E. pund, from W.Gmc. stem *punda- "pound" as a measure of weight (cf. Goth. pund, O.H.G. pfunt, Ger. Pfund, M.Du. pont, O.Fris., O.N. pund), early borrowing from L. pondo "pound," originally in libra pondo "a pound by weight," from pondo (adv.) "by weight," ablative of *pondus
"weight" (see span (v.)). Meaning "unit of money" was in O.E., originally "pound of silver." At first "12 ounces;" meaning "16 ounces" was established before late 14c. Pound cake (1747) so called because it has a pound, more or less, of each ingredient. Pound of flesh is from "Merchant of Venice" IV.i. The abbreviations lb., £ are from libra, and reflect the medieval custom of keeping accounts in Latin.

"enclosed place for animals," late O.E. pundfald "penfold, pound," related to pyndan "to dam up, enclose (water)," and thus from the same root as pond. Ultimate origin unknown; no certain cognates beyond Eng.

"pulverize," O.E. punian "crush," from W.Gmc. *puno-, stem of *punojanan (cf. Low Ger. pun, Du. puin "fragments"). With intrusive -d- from 16c.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

pound (pound)

  1. A unit of weight that is the basis of the avoirdupois system, equal to 16 ounces or 453.592 grams.

  2. A unit of apothecary weight equal to 12 ounces or 373.242 grams.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
pound   (pound)  Pronunciation Key 
A unit of weight in the US Customary System equal to 16 ounces (0.45 kilograms). See Table at measurement. See Note at weight.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
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Bible Dictionary

Pound definition

(1.) A weight. Heb. maneh, equal to 100 shekels (1 Kings 10:17; Ezra 2:69; Neh. 7:71, 72). Gr. litra, equal to about 12 oz. avoirdupois (John 12:3; 19:39). (2.) A sum of money; the Gr. mna or mina (Luke 19:13, 16, 18, 20, 24, 25). It was equal to 100 drachmas, and was of the value of about $3, 6s. 8d. of our money. (See MONEY.)

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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