lombard

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   historical: a pawnshop or lending house that advances money against pledged goods

   The state lombard offered small loans secured by household valuables.

2. 2
   noun

   historical: a banker, pawnbroker, or moneylender, especially one associated with Lombardy

   A Lombard financed the merchant's voyage in return for interest on the loan.

From Lombard, a person from Lombardy in northern Italy. Because Lombard merchants were prominent in medieval European banking and secured lending, their name was extended to moneylenders, pawnbrokers, and the pawnshops they operated.

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