Lewis & Short

pignĕro, āvi, ātum, 1, v. a. [pignus], to give as a pledge, to pledge, pawn, mortgage.

  1. 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.
  2. II. Trop.
    1. A. To pledge one’s life, etc.: velut obsidibus datis pigneratos habere animos, Liv. 24, 1.
    2. B. To bind a person or thing to one’s self, to make one’s own: pignerare aliquem sibi beneficio, App. M. 3, p. 134, 32: 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, App. M. 3, p. 139, 4; 11, p. 269, 25.