Where does “pfund” come from?
pfund (German) comes from Middle High German pfunt, from Old High German pfunt, from Proto-West Germanic *pund, from Proto-Germanic pundą, from Latin pondus, from Proto-Italic pondos, from Proto-Indo-European (s)pénd-os, from Proto-Indo-European (s)pend- — to stretch.
Ancestry of “pfund”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle High German | pfunt | — |
| 2 | Old High German | pfunt | pound |
| 3 | Proto-West Germanic | *pund | — |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | pundą | pound |
| 5 | Latin | pondus | weight; weight of a pound; heaviness, weight of a... |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | pondos | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)pénd-os | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)pend- | to stretch |