Balaunce

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. To weigh carefully in the mind or consider different sides of something
2. To think through the merits and drawbacks of something with deliberation
3. To examine or ponder something by weighing its various aspects

Etymology: "Balaunce" is an obsolete spelling of "balance," and the spelling tells the story of its journey. It came into Middle English from Old French "balance," which in turn came from Late Latin "bilancia," a form taken from the accusative of Latin "bilanx." That Latin word was a compound of "bi-" meaning "two" and "lanx," meaning "plate" or "scale," so it described an object with two pans, the kind of balance that weighs one thing against another. The word's Latin core is thus a neat picture of what it does: two plates held in equilibrium. Note that English once had its own word for this instrument, Old English "wǣġ," related to modern "wey" and ultimately to a Proto-West Germanic root meaning "scales; weight." The Latin-derived term eventually displaced it, which is why the everyday word for a weighing device now comes from Rome rather than from the Anglo-Saxons.