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banal

Etymology and origin of the French word banal

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1247
Ultimate origin
Frankish (*ban)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French banal
English banal

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ba.nal/[1]

Forms

banal (feminine banale, masculine plural banals or banaux, feminine plural banales)[1] Also bannel (1269).[2][3][4] Plural banaux in the feudal sense, banals in the modern one.[3][1]

Etymology

It is from French ban + -al,[2][3][4][5][1] in the feudal sense of ban, a lord's jurisdiction or proclamation,[4][5] a word from Frankish *ban.[5][6] Compare Medieval Latin bannālis.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

In 1247 it is a term of feudal law: a four banal or moulin banal was the lord's oven or mill, which the people of the lordship were bound to use for a fee.[5][3][7]

Semantic evolution

From “belonging to the lord's district”, the word came to mean “open to all the inhabitants”, as a common meadow or well.[8][4] From 1688 it was used figuratively of a person who offers himself to everyone as friend or godfather,[5] and by 1778 of what is common to everyone, hence ordinary, trite and unoriginal.[8][5][3] Banalité, at first the lord's right (1555), took the sense “triteness” in 1845.[5]

Timeline

  • 1247 – Feudal banal.[5][2]
  • 1269 – Bannel.[2]
  • 1555 – Banalité, the lord's right.[5]
  • 1688 – Of a person available to all.[5]
  • 1778 – “Commonplace” (Gilbert).[8][3]
  • 1845 – Banalité “a commonplace”.[5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Banal, commonplace, unoriginal.[3][9]
  2. Pas banal: unusual, remarkable.[3]
  3. (historical) Belonging to the feudal lord and used by his tenants for a fee: four banal, moulins banaux.[3][7]
  4. (law, dated) Shared by all the inhabitants of a commune.[8][1]

Word family

  • banaliser
  • banalité

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 15/1, 51b
  7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  9. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)

Borrowed into

Cite this entry

“Banal.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/banal. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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