A pond is a body of standing water, either natural or man-made, that is usually smaller than a lake. A wide variety of man-made bodies of water are classified as ponds, including water gardens, water features and koi ponds; all designed for aesthetic ornamentation as landscape or architectural features, while fish ponds are designed for commercial fish breeding, and solar ponds designed to store thermal energy.

Standing bodies of water such as puddles, ponds, and lakes are distinguished from a water course, such as a brook, creek, or stream via current speed. While currents in streams are more easily observed, ponds and lakes possess thermally driven microcurrents and moderate wind-driven currents. These features distinguish a pond from many other aquatic terrain features, such as stream pools and tide pools.

Some mills use the kinetic energy of the moving water in the pond to generate electricity.