My etymological studies have led me to a definition that predates the current OED one by 204 years. 

The lowliest rank on the chess-board which we have come to know today as pawns was first noted in Grey’s letter to Monkhouse 1245 “Prithee thee the merit to use the PAWs wysely (sic) over squar’d board “. 

In this context we note reference to the lowliest and most dispensable pieces on the board juxtaposed interchangeably against the same most despised and lowest ranking strata of contemporaneous society of the age by use of the Acronym PAW. 

Extensive studies have revealed this to mean - Peasants And Women.  Fowler has demonstrated the phonetic transmogrification of the acronymal form PAW to Poor¹ from circa 1520.

 

It was approximately 200 years later with the introduction of the letter N into common usage (See White’s – The Cuts of Cuthole and opposition to the new letter in Englyshe) that we first see reference to Pawn as we know it today. 

Shown here in the seminal extract from As you like it: Orlando: On Saint Swithen’s day why is thine pawn like thine mother-in-law? Touchstone: Forsooth for I can verily touch it only once in the opening.

 

 

1 (The modern usage of poor of course refers to that strata of modern society who by economic factors are excluded from private health-care and/or  private education).

I think you have to consider 'pedonem' - one going on foot, Latin. Spanish 'peon', Old French 'paon' - and there you are.

Well, my 1st thought is that the opposition of the Cuts of Cuthole was fully justified....

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 Indeed good to have a fellow scholar of history

I quote directly from the text I referred to in my original post White’s – The Cuts of Cuthole and opposition to the new letter in Englyshe:

...so it came to pass that a decree was set to Parliamet to eforce the itroductio of the ew letter (heceforth deemed N).  By proclamatio of the Statue by Royal asset it was declared that N have 3 straight lies: two parallel and the third joiig the others at opposite eds.  The ew letter must be added at the start of all Eglish proper ames that begi with a vowel or directly after the first sigle vowel otherwise.....

....the people of Ottigham were quite cross but the most militat oppositio, a armed uprising or violet revolt occured amogst the formerly peaceful tribe of the Cuts from the District formerly titled Cuthole in the 'orth....

 

That's history in the raw that is from the original papers of the time.  And this was all before America had even been invented. 

Oh boy. What treacherous shores we tread upon.

0|-| pL3453 |\|0 L337 5P34|< |-|3R3!!

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5ch014r5 4r3 1n 4gr33m3n7

I'm too old to decipher twinky text. geez, have some compassion.

Some of the cave paintings found in Lascaux, France, seem to contain crude chess diagrams. One contains the annotation "pwned."

Is crude chess a new variant?

Yes, it is played with much larger pieces, and instead of capturing you use the pieces to whack each other.