Etymologically
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bench

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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

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)