pool
UK /puːl/ · US /pul/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms pools pooling pooled poole
- noun A small and rather deep area of (usually) fresh water, as one supplied by a spring, or occurring in the course of a stream or river; a reservoir for water. “the pools of Solomon”
- noun Any small body of standing or stagnant water; a puddle.
- noun (by extension, computing) A set of resources that are kept ready to use.
- noun (by extension) Any group of like things.
- noun A small amount of liquid on a surface. “a pool of blood”
- noun A localized glow of light.
- verb (intransitive, of a liquid) To form a pool.
- noun A supply of resources.
- noun A number of people when considered as a resource. “dating pool”
- noun (games, uncountable) A game at billiards, in which each of the players stakes a certain sum, the winner taking the whole; also, in public billiard rooms, a game in which the loser pays the entrance fee for all who engage in the game.
- noun (sports) A cue sport played on a pool table. There are 15 balls, 7 of one colour or solids, 7 of another color or stripes, and the black ball (also called the 8 ball). A player must pocket all their own colour balls and then the black ball in order to win.
- noun In rifle shooting, a contest in which each competitor pays a certain sum for every shot he makes, the net proceeds being divided among the winners.
- noun (fencing) A group of fencers taking part in a competition.
- noun (rugby union) A set of teams playing each other in the same division, while not during the same period playing any teams that belong to other sets in the division.
- noun Any gambling or commercial venture in which several persons join.
- verb (transitive) To put together; contribute to a common fund, on the basis of a mutual division of profits or losses; to make a common interest of. “We must pool our resources.”
- verb (intransitive) To combine or contribute with others, as for a commercial, speculative, or gambling transaction.
- proper noun A village in Carn Brea parish, Cornwall, England (OS grid ref SW6641).
- proper noun A civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, also known as Pool in Wharfedale.
- proper noun An unincorporated community in Nicholas County, West Virginia, United States.
Synonyms
poule group pond consortium syndicate puddle kitty pocket billiards
Etymology
From Middle English pool, pole, pol, from Old English pōl (“pool”), from Proto-West Germanic pōl, from Proto-Germanic *pōlaz (“pool, pond”), from Proto-Indo-European *bōlos (“bog, marsh”).
Cognate with Scots puil (“pool”), Saterland Frisian Pol (“pool”), West Frisian poel (“pool”), Dutch poel (“pool”), German Low German Pohl, Pool, Pul (“pool”), German Pfuhl (“quagmire, mudhole”), Danish pøl (“puddle”), Swedish pöl (“puddle, pool”), Icelandic pollur (“puddle”), Lithuanian bala (“puddle”), Latvian bala (“a muddly, treeless depression”), Russian боло́то (bolóto, “swamp, bog, marsh”).
For the meaning development to a supply of resources compare typologically Russian пруд пруди́ (prud prudí) (< пруд (prud)).
1. From French poule (“collective stakes in a game”). The French word "poule" in this context is an abbreviation of "poulain, pouliche" (foal, filly), and referred to races with female horses under 3 years old. It then became used by punters to designate bets on that race, and started to be used from the racetrack to the stadiums.
2. The OED suggests that this may be a transferred use of poule (“hen”), which has been explained anecdotally as deriving from an old informal betting game in France - 'jeu de poule' - Game of Chicken (or Hen, literally) in which poule became synonymous with the combined money pot claimed by the winner.
In all likelihood from the noun pool.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A small and rather deep collection of (usually) fresh water, as one supplied by a spring, or occurring in the course of a stream; a reservoir for water; as, the pools of Solomon. Wyclif.
- noun A small body of standing or stagnant water; a puddle. "The filthy mantled pool beyond your cell." Shak.
- noun The stake played for in certain games of cards, billiards, etc.; an aggregated stake to which each player has contributed a snare; also, the receptacle for the stakes.
- noun A game at billiards, in which each of the players stakes a certain sum, the winner taking the whole; also, in public billiard rooms, a game in which the loser pays the entrance fee for all who engage in the game; a game of skill in pocketing the balls on a pool table.
Etymology [AS. pol; akin to LG. pool, pohl, D. poel, G. pfuhl; cf. Icel. pollr, also W. pwll, Gael. poll.]
Etymology [F. poule, properly, a hen. See Pullet.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “pool”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details