Steelyard

Steelyard has two separate noun meanings in English. One, a proper noun, is of interest to historians; both may be obsolescent.

• The common noun steelyard means 'a device using a pivoted lever with sliding weights to measure the weight of something'. Its etymology seems obvious - from steel (of which it is usually made) and yard (with the sense of 'straight spar or rod', influenced by the idea of 'measuring'); but the name of the device may also be derived from the name of the place below, where there was a public weighing device.
• The proper noun The Steelyard was a settlement of the foreign merchants of the Hanseatic league on the north bank of the Thames in London. The name came from Middle Germanic stâlhof, which is formed from stâl, 'pattern', and hof, 'courtyard'. OED notes: "The word stâl, pattern, being homophonous with the word for steel, the meaning of the compound was misunderstood."