Impawn

Word of the Day for Sunday, March 31, 2013

Impawn \im-PAWN\, verb:

1. to put in pawn; pledge.
2. to put in pawn; pledge.

Go to the king; and let there be impawn'd Some surety for a safe return again
-- William Shakespeare, King Henry IV, 1591

A wise man will never impawn his future being and action, and decide beforehand what he shall do in a given extreme event.
-- Elizabeth P. Peabody, Aesthetic Papers, 2005

And yet, God knows, I dare and I will boldly impawn his temper, that he dares meet and cooperate until we are assayed and proven.
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson, Journals of Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1838

Impawn entered English in the late 1500s from the Old French pan meaning "pledge" or "security."

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com