A person who lends money in exchange for personal items left as security, which can be sold if the loan isn't repaid.
From 'pawn' (a valuable item pledged as security, from Old French 'pan', perhaps from Germanic roots) and 'broker' (Middle Dutch 'brocour', a wine seller or agent). The occupation emerged prominently in medieval Europe.
Pawnbrokers were historically essential to poor communities—they provided emergency loans when banks wouldn't, yet they've been demonized in literature and law as exploitative. Interestingly, your grandmother's jewelry in a pawn shop is still legally yours until the loan expires, making it a unique financial relationship between trust and collateral.
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