Wordwyrt

pay

/ˈpeɪ/PAY
/ˈpeɪ/PAY

Meaningpacify or satisfy

Common meaning: give money owed

Journey through time

  1. Aryan root · reconstructed√PAK‘bind, fasten, fix, hold fast’No written record; from Skeat’s list of Aryan roots, no. 188, p. 736 · scan
  2. Latinpacare‘pacify or satisfy’source
  3. Old Frenchpaer‘pay or satisfy’source
  4. Middle Englishpayen‘pay or satisfy’source
  5. Englishmeaning shiftspacify or satisfy → give money owedpay‘give money owed’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin pacare ‘pacify or satisfy’.

Did you know: our wording, based on Skeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), entry PAY, p. 427 · dictionary scan

Roots

  • pacare Latin “pacify or satisfy”

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