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- DictionaryOne's pound of flesh
- ▪ something one is strictly or legally entitled to, but which it is ruthless or inhuman to demand
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The phrase goes back to William Shakespeare’s play “ The Merchant of Venice ,” which was written around 1596–1597. The character Shylock is a moneylender who demands a literal pound of flesh from Antonio, the merchant, as collateral for a loan. (Gross!)
Etymology: From Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, in which Antonio literally owes a pound of his flesh to the moneylender Shylock. The phrase “pound of flesh” is a well-known idiom that has been used in English language for centuries.
Definition: Payment that is owed, which may be collected in a cruel or vengeful way. Origin of A Pound of Flesh. This expression comes from one of the works of the English playwright William Shakespeare. It appears in his play Merchant of Venice, from the year 1596.
Origin. The idiom “ pound of flesh ” was used in the Merchant of Venice. The Merchant of Venice is a book that was written by William Shakespeare. The incident took place in the 1600s when Antonio, a wealthy merchant, took a loan from a money lender known as Shylock for his friend Bassanio. Bassanio wanted the money to woo Portia.
Jan 3, 2024 · The meaning of POUND OF FLESH is a payment or penalty exacted to fulfill a deal or punishment. How to use pound of flesh in a sentence.
A debt or punishment, especially a cruel or unreasonable one, that is harshly insisted upon. An allusion to Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, in which the moneylender Shylock demands he be paid the pound of flesh promised as collateral for a loan.
Origin of: Pound of flesh. Pound of flesh is a metaphor one’s due recompense that is assiduously exacted and it was coined by Shakespeare in Merchant of Venice Act IV, Scene I, “The pound of flesh, which I demand of him is dearly bought; ‘tis mine and I will have it.”
