Where did the phrase dog pound come from?

Answer 1

"Pound" is used in this context to represent an enclosureand seems to have nothing to do with weight or money. It comes from the Old English word "pund", which meant enclosure, and is what they called the place where cattle were kept. The origin of "pund" as an Old English word is unknown, but it is thought by some linguists that it was from a word used to mean confine, or to dam up (water)." Impound ("to put in the pound") is also an example of the use of pound to mean confine, and probably traces back to the same root.

In Middle English "pund" became "pownde" or "pounde", and also meant an enclosure. In the Middle Ages, it became the word we know today, "pound". From the early 1400's pound meant, "An enclosure maintained by authority to hold stray or trespassing cattle." From this, it has been expanded to also mean a place for other unclaimed animals to be confined, as we use it today for "dog pound" or "the pound", which mostly only houses dogs and cats in the current age (since there is not a huge problem with stray cattle anymore).

A Middle English word that is believed to perhaps be related, was "ponde". It was used to refer to what we call a "pond" today, which is a small body of water that is artificially contained. The relationship may be in the connection between contained and an enclosure.