| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| pawn2 |
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| PRONUNCIATION: |  pôn |
| NOUN: | 1. abbr. P Games A chess piece of lowest value that may move forward one square at a time or two squares in the first move, capture other pieces only on a one-space diagonal forward move, and be promoted to any piece other than a king upon reaching the eighth rank. 2. A person or an entity used to further the purposes of another: an underdeveloped nation that was a pawn in international politics. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English, from Old French pedon, paon, from Medieval Latin ped , pedn-, foot soldier, from Late Latin, one who has wide feet, from Latin p s, ped-, foot. See ped- in Appendix I.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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