Pawn
“Pawn” 有多重含义：国际象棋中等级最低的棋子“兵”；典当物或典当行为（to pawn a watch 典当手表）；比喻被他人操控利用的人（a pawn in a political game 政治博弈中的棋子）。作动词时指将物品押给当铺换取贷款。
- “He had to pawn his watch to pay the rent.” (他不得不把手表典当来付房租。)
- “Though a pawn of the gods, her departure caused the Trojan War.” (她虽是诸神的棋子，但她的离去引发了特洛伊战争。)
- “She advanced her pawn to the eighth rank and promoted it to a queen.” (她把兵推进到第八行，升变为后。)
典当义来自拉丁语 “pignus”（抵押品），经古法语 “pan” 进入英语；象棋义则源自中世纪拉丁语 “pedo/paun”（步兵），与 foot（脚）相关。
“Pawn” 为短词，两个主要义项来源不同，无统一词缀结构。
“Pawn shop”（当铺）在欧美城市中常见；比喻用法 “political pawn” 强调个体在大局中被牺牲或操控，新闻与政治评论中频繁出现。
- 固定搭配: “pawn shop” (当铺), “in pawn” (在当押中), “pawn off” (哄骗卖掉), “political pawn” (政治棋子)
- 动词: pawn（典当）
- 名词: pawnbroker（当铺老板）
象棋里最小的棋子是 pawn；缺钱时把东西 pawn（典当）换钱——两个义都用得上。
“Feeling like a pawn in his boss’s scheme, he pawned his guitar and bought a train ticket out of town.” (他觉得自己不过是老板棋局里的一枚棋子，便典当了吉他，买了张火车票离开了这座城市。)