pignĕro, āvi, ātum, 1, v. a. [pignus], to give as a pledge, to pledge, pawn, mortgage.
I Lit.: unionem, Suet. Vit. 7: bona tantum, quae publicari poterant, pigneranda poenae praebebant, furnished as security for the penalty , i. e. left to be confiscated , Liv. 29, 36: cujus et alveolos et laenam pignerat Atreus, which the poet Rubrenus , while he was writing the Atreus , was compelled by necessity to pawn , Juv. 7, 73: ancilla pignerata, Dig. 40, 5, 46: vestimenta pignorata, Vulg. Amos, 2, 8.—
II Trop.
A To pledge one's life, etc.: velut obsidibus datis pigneratos habere animos, Liv. 24, 1.—
B To bind a person or thing to one's self , to make one's own : pignerare aliquem sibi beneficio, Ap. Met. 3, 22, 13; optimates viros curiae suae, Naz. Pan. ad Const. 35.—With se , to pledge one's self : se cenae alicujus, to promise to dine with one , Ap. Met. 3, 12, 12; 11, 24, 25.