pledge

verb
/plɛd͡ʒ/

Etymology

From Middle English plege, from Anglo-Norman plege, from Old French plege (Modern French pleige) from Medieval Latin plevium, plebium, from plebiō (“to pledge”), from Frankish *plehan (“to pledge; to support; to guarantee”). Akin to Old High German pflegan (“to take care of, be accustomed to”), Old Saxon plegan (“to vouch for”), Old English plēon (“to risk, endanger”). More at plight.

  1. derived from *plehan
  2. derived from plevium
  3. derived from plege
  4. derived from plege
  5. inherited from plege

Definitions

  1. To make a solemn promise (to do something).

    • pledge allegiance to the flag
  2. To deposit something as a security

    To deposit something as a security; to pawn.

  3. To give assurance of friendship by the act of drinking

    To give assurance of friendship by the act of drinking; to drink to one's health.

    • Reach me my golden cup that stands by thee, And pledge me in it first for courtesy.
  4. + 5 more definitions
    1. A solemn promise to do something.

      • Mr. Biden unveiled the pledge at a White House climate summit for world leaders, declaring that the United States is ready to reclaim a leadership role on climate change.
    2. An asset or person temporarily handed over to guarantee the fulfilment of something…

      An asset or person temporarily handed over to guarantee the fulfilment of something promised, under threat of permanent loss of the thing handed over; surety, security, hostage.

      • Iacke Straw. […] I haue his wife and children pledges, for his ſpeedie returne from the King, to whom he is gone with our meſſage. Tom Miller. Let him take heede hee bring a wiſe anſwere to our worships, or els his pledges goes to the pot.
    3. A bailment of personal property to secure payment of a debt without transfer of title.

    4. A person who has taken a pledge of allegiance to a college fraternity, but is not yet…

      A person who has taken a pledge of allegiance to a college fraternity, but is not yet formally approved.

    5. A drinking toast.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at pledge. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01pledge02health03illness04episode05connected06working07solving08solve09crime10committed

A definitional loop anchored at pledge. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

10 hops · closes at pledge

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA