As a noun, pound can mean a unit of weight used mainly in the US and UK, or the basic unit of money in the UK and some other countries. As a verb, to pound means to hit something hard and repeatedly, or to beat strongly, like a pounding heart.
The weight “pound” comes from Old English *pund*, from Latin *pondus*, “weight.” The verb “pound” is from Old English *pūnian*, “to beat, crush,” and is unrelated in origin, even though they now look the same.
English hides two completely different words inside “pound”: one about weight/money and another about hitting. It’s a reminder that spelling doesn’t always reveal a word’s true family history.
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