bench

Pronunciation

• IPA: /bentʃ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English bench, inherited from Old English benc (“long seat”),^[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *bankiz,^[4] also the source of Old Frisian benk, Old High German bank and Old Norse bekkr.^[2][3] It is related to bank in the sense of a river bank;^[2][4][5] Etymonline suggests that the first idea was “an earthwork used as a seat”.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A long seat, usually of wood: the Old English word is in Beowulf, about 725, and the OED's first quotation is from before 1000.^[3][6]

Semantic evolution

The seat where judges sit in court is from about 1275 in the OED and about 1300 in Etymonline,^[6][2] which led, by metonymy, to the judges collectively, from 1592.^[6][2] A merchant's table is from the late 14th century,^[2] and a workbench developed from it.^[7] The seat where reserve players sit is from 1889 in Etymonline and 1912 in the OED,^[2][6] and the reserve players themselves from 1909.^[2] The verb, to furnish with benches, is from about 1385;^[6] to remove a player from a game is from 1902 in Etymonline and 1917 in the OED.^[2][6] A bench warrant, issued by a judge, is from the 1690s.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 725 – Old English benc, in Beowulf.^[3]
• c. 1275 – the judges' seat.^[6]
• 1592 – judges collectively.^[6]
• 1889 – the players' bench.^[2]
• 1902 – to take a player out of a game.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A long seat for several people, usually of wood and often without a back.
2. A strong table on which a carpenter or other worker works.
3. (the bench) The seat of a judge in court, or judges and magistrates as a group.
4. (sport) The seat where substitutes and coaches sit, or the substitutes themselves.

Verb

1. (sport) To take a player out of a game, or keep them out of it.
2. To show a dog at a dog show.

Word family

• benchless
• bencher
• benchland
• benchman
• benchrest
• benchtop
• drawbench

Related words

• bank
• benchmark

Usage notes

In English dialect a bench could be a layer of stone or clay, or a ledge or terrace, a use the OED records for the verb bench in from 1737.^[8][6]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
8. ^ 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)