bank

English has three words spelled bank, all going back to the same Germanic word as bench, but reaching English by different routes.^[1][2]

Pronunciation

• IPA: /bæŋk/^[3]

bank¹ slope, ridge

Etymology

The slope is inherited from Middle English banke, probably borrowed from a Scandinavian source,^[4][5][6] such as Old Norse *banki, a variant of bakki (“ridge, river bank, mound”),^[5][7][8] compare Old Danish banke “sandbank”, Swedish backe and Danish bakke (“hill”),^[5][8] from Proto-Germanic *bankô (“slope”), related to Proto-Germanic *bankiz (“shelf”), the source of bench.^[5][7] Barnhart notes that the word is not found in Old English, and that Old English hōbanca “couch” is often cited but has no real semantic connection.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A raised ridge or mound of earth: about 1200, in the Ormulum,^[4] or about 1200 in the OED.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The sloping ground beside a river or lake is from the 14th century,^[7] and a hillside from 1362.^[9] A shoal or rising ground in the sea, as a sandbank, is from 1605,^[9] and a long mass of cloud from before 1626.^[9] The verb “to border, confine within a bank” is from 1590;^[9][6] “to rise in banks” is by 1870, of an aircraft tilting in a turn from 1911,^[5] and in billiards “to play the ball off the cushion” by 1909, from bank-shot.^[5] In the north of England bank still means a hill or slope.^[10][9]

Timeline

• c. 1200 – a ridge (Ormulum).^[4][9]
• 1362 – a hillside.^[9]
• 1590 – verb, to border with a bank.^[9][6]
• 1605 – a shoal.^[9]
• 1909 – verb, in billiards.^[5]
• 1911 – verb, of an aircraft.^[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The sloping land beside a river, lake or channel.
2. A steep natural incline; an artificial embankment.
3. A piled-up mass, as of snow or clouds.
4. A raised area of the sea floor; a shoal.
5. The cushion of a billiard table.

Verb

1. To border or protect with a bank.
2. To pile up; to cover a fire so that it burns low.
3. To tilt an aircraft or vehicle sideways in turning.

Word family

• embankment
• sandbank
• riverbank

bank² money

Etymology

The financial institution is borrowed from Middle French banque and Italian banca (“bench, table”),^[5][4][11] from Medieval Latin banca or bancus,^[8] from a Germanic source such as Old High German bank (“bench, moneylender's table”).^[5][12] The original idea is the money-changer's table or counter.^[5][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The place of business of a money-dealer: 1474, in Caxton's Game and Play of the Chess,^[4][9] and 1475 in the phrase the banke de Medicys.^[4]

Semantic evolution

A sum of money is from 1515,^[9] and an establishment for keeping and lending money from 1482^[13] or the 1620s.^[5] In games of chance the money held by the dealer or the house is a bank from about 1720.^[9][5] The verb “to act as banker” is from 1727–51,^[9][4] “to deposit in a bank” from 1833,^[5] and “to rely on” from 1884, American colloquial.^[5][9] Bank holiday is from 1871.^[5] A store of blood or tissue for later use is a bank from the 1930s, first in the United States.^[9]

Timeline

• 1474 – a money-dealer's shop (Caxton).^[4][9]
• 1515 – a sum of money.^[9]
• c. 1720 – the bank in gambling.^[9]
• 1727–51 – verb, to keep a bank.^[9][4]
• 1833 – verb, to deposit in a bank.^[5]
• 1871 – bank holiday.^[5]
• 1884 – bank on, to rely on.^[5][9]
• 1938 – verb, to store blood or tissue.^[9]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A business that keeps money for saving or commercial purposes, and invests, lends or exchanges it.
2. The funds of a gambling establishment or of the dealer in a game.
3. A supply or store for future use: a blood bank.

Verb

1. To deposit in a bank.
2. To do business with a bank, or operate one.
3. bank on: to rely on.

Word family

• banker
• banking
• bankable
• bankrupt
• bank holiday

bank³ row, tier

Etymology

The row is inherited from Middle English banc (“bench”), borrowed from Old French banc (“bench”),^[4][12][8] of Germanic origin, akin to Old High German bank and Old English benc, the source of bench.^[12][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

A bench: probably before 1200, in Layamon's Brut,^[4] or before 1050 in the OED.^[9]

Semantic evolution

A seat of justice is from 1275.^[9] The bench occupied by the rowers of each oar in a galley is from 1599, a tier of oars from 1614,^[9][4] which led to the modern sense “a row”, first of keys on an organ in 1884 and on a typewriter in 1875.^[9][4] Merriam-Webster dates the row sense to 1614.^[6] In printing, a bank was the table that received printed sheets, from 1565.^[9]

Timeline

• before 1200 – a bench (Layamon).^[4]
• 1275 – a seat of justice.^[9]
• 1599 – a rowers' bench in a galley.^[9]
• 1614 – a tier of oars.^[9][6]
• 1875 – a row of keys on a typewriter.^[9]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A set of similar things arranged in a row: a bank of elevators.
2. A row of keys on a keyboard.
3. A bench for rowers in a galley; a row of oars.

Verb

1. To arrange in a row.

Related words

• banco
• bench
• banc
• banquette
• banquet
• mountebank
• bunk

References

1. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
11. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
12. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
13. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)