bloc

Etymology

It is borrowed from French bloc (“block; group”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Old French bloc (“log, block of wood”),^[3][7] which also gave English block.^[2][8][7] The Old French word came from a Germanic source such as Middle Dutch bloc (“trunk of a tree”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

An alliance of states, parties or groups formed to further a common interest: 1903, first used of alliances in the politics of continental Europe.^[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

The OED notes that bloc vote in an Australian newspaper of 1894 is probably an alteration of block vote after en bloc, used of voting from the 1880s; in later use bloc vote is understood as a compound of bloc.^[2][8] In American politics the word came to mean a group of legislators who act together across party lines, as a farm bloc,^[4] and in the 20th century a group of nations joined by a treaty or a common ideology, as the Soviet bloc.^[4][5]

Timeline

• 1894 – bloc vote, probably for block vote.^[2]
• 1903 – an alliance of states or parties.^[2][3][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A group of nations, parties or people joined by a common interest or aim: the former Eastern bloc.^[5][4][2]
2. A temporary coalition of parties in a legislature, especially one supporting a government.^[4]
3. A group of legislators who act together for a common purpose regardless of party.^[4]

Related words

• block
• en bloc
• block vote

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press