steelyard
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
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈstiːljɑːɹd/, /ˈstiːljɚd/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈstiːljɑːd/, /ˈstiːljəd/
- (obsolete) IPA(key): /ˈstɪljəɹd/[1]
Noun edit
steelyard (plural steelyards)
- A transportable balance with unequal arm lengths.
- A place where steel (and possibly other metals as well) is stored and sold.
Translations edit
steelyard balance
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place where steel is stored and sold
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References edit
- ^ 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.