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banal

Etymology and origin of the English word banal

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Formation
Borrowing
Borrowed from
French banal

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /bəˈnɑːl/, /ˈbeɪnəl/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French banal,[2][3][4][5] from Old French banel “communal”,[3] from Old French ban (“summons to military service; decree”),[4][2][3] of Germanic origin.[4][3] It is related to English ban.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Relating to compulsory feudal service (1753).[6][3][7]

Semantic evolution

Under feudal law, banal described things owned by the lord and used in common by all his tenants, such as the manor's oven or mill, for which a fee was paid.[3][5] In French the sense widened from “open to everyone” to “common, ordinary” and then to “trite, petty”.[3][2][6] English took the trite sense in the 19th century (1825 in Merriam-Webster; 1837 in the OED; 1840 in Barnhart).[5][6][2] Banality follows in 1861.[2]

Timeline

  • 1753 – of compulsory feudal service.[6][3]
  • 1825 – lacking originality (Merriam-Webster's date).[5]
  • 1837 – commonplace, trite.[6]
  • 1861 – banality.[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Dull and commonplace through lack of originality or freshness; trite.
  2. (historical) Relating to a feudal jurisdiction or service.

Word family

  • banalize
  • banally
  • banality
  • ban
  • banns
  • bandit
  • abandon

Usage notes

The pronunciation is unsettled.[4] The American Heritage Usage Panel was divided between rhyming it with anal (38 percent), with canal (46 percent), and with the last syllable like doll (14 percent, a pronunciation more common in British English); H. W. Fowler's recommended form rhyming with panel was preferred by only 2 percent.[4]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Banal.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/banal. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·