maund

Meanings

Noun

• A wicker basket.
• A unit of capacity with various specific local values.
• A handbasket with two lids.
• A unit of weight in southern and western Asia, whose value varied widely by location. Two maunds made one chest of opium in East India. One maund equalled 136 pounds of opium in Turkey.
• begging

Verb

• to beg
• To mutter; to mumble or speak incoherently; to maunder.

Origin

• From Middle English maunde, maundie, from borrowed Old French mande, borrowed from Middle Dutch mande, from Old Dutch *manda, from Proto-West Germanic *mandu.
• Anglicised pronunciation of mainly Hindi मन / Urdu من meaning a certain unit of weight, also confused with Hindi मान / Urdu مان. The -d is probably from assimilation with Etymology 1 above, or from comparison with pound.
• Unclear, but possibly from French mendier or quémander. Compare Romani mang.