English edit

Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

steel +‎ yard (enclosed area, rod).

The sense of “place” is a calque of Dutch staalhof or Middle Low German Stalhof (Modern Dutch staal (steel) + hof (court, yard)).

The sense of “balance” is presumably from the sense of “place”, originally “steelyard beam”, mixed with additional sense of “rod” (hence “rod for weighing steel”), replacing earlier Latin statera.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

 
A 19th-century steelyard.
 
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steelyard (plural steelyards)

  1. A transportable balance with unequal arm lengths.
  2. A place where steel (and possibly other metals as well) is stored and sold.

Translations edit

References edit

  1. ^ Jespersen, Otto (1909) A Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles (Sammlung germanischer Elementar- und Handbücher; 9)‎[1], volumes I: Sounds and Spellings, London: George Allen & Unwin, published 1961, § 4.36, page 124.