banc

Forms

banc m (plural bancs)^[1] Anglo-Norman also bank, baunc and baunk.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *bancus, borrowed from Proto-Germanic *bankiz (“bench”).^[3][1] The Late Latin word is attested indirectly by its derivative bancalis “cushion to sit on” (6th–9th century).^[3] Rey sets the Germanic word beside Old High German banch (German Bank), Old English benċ (English bench), Old Frisian benk and Old Norse bekkr, and relates it to other Germanic words meaning a reef or ridge, such as English bank.^[3] Wiktionary takes the French word from Frankish *banki,^[1] but Rey thinks a Frankish source unlikely, since the word is found across the Romance languages, which took it directly from Germanic.^[3] Bloch and Wartburg note that the Germanic bench ran round the walls of the room.^[4]

Cognate with Old Occitan banc, Italian banco, Italian panca and Spanish banco.^[5][4] It is a doublet of banque.^[1][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded about 1050 in the Vie de saint Alexis, meaning a long seat.^[4][6][3] The Chanson de Roland (about 1100) has Il fait porter quatre bancs en la place (“he has four benches carried to the square”).^[5][7]

Semantic evolution

Besides a long seat for several people, the word soon named seats kept for one group, as in banc de jugement (1458), now out of use, banc de rameur “rowing bench” (1611), banc d'église (1718) and banc d'œuvre (1835), the churchwardens' pew.^[3] In Anglo-Norman it also meant a court of law, as in the King's Bench.^[2]

By likeness to a bench it named a frame used in various trades: a market stall (late 12th century), the counter of a money-changer (1450–1500), a sense also behind banque, and later testing frames such as banc d'épreuve (1866) for firearms and banc d'essai (1907) for engines, which became figurative “a trial, comparative test”.^[3]

From 1529 it names a horizontal layer of matter under water, as related Germanic words do: a sandbank or shoal.^[3] Banc de neige (1722), perhaps after English snow bank, is frequent in Canadian French, and, from 1797 banc is also a school of fish.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1050 – First record, in the Vie de saint Alexis.^[4][6]
• c. 1100 – Benches carried into the square in the Chanson de Roland.^[5]
• 1121–1125 – Earliest Anglo-Norman record.^[2]
• late 12th century – Used for a market stall.^[3]
• 1458 – Banc de jugement, a judges' bench.^[3]
• 1529 – First used for a bank of sand or rock under water.^[3]
• 1722 – Banc de neige “snowbank”.^[3]
• 1797 – Said of a school of fish.^[3]
• 1907 – Banc d'essai, a test bench for engines.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A bench: a long, narrow seat for several people, with or without a back.^[7][1]
2. A seat kept for a group in an assembly or court: banc des accusés “dock”, banc des ministres, (Quebec, sport) banc des joueurs “players' bench”.^[7][3]
3. A frame or workbench used in a trade, banc d'essai: a test bench, and figuratively a trial or comparative test.^[3]
4. A raised mass under water: banc de sable “sandbank”, banc de corail, banc de neige: a snowbank, especially in Canada.^[1][3]
5. A shoal, school (of fish).^[1][3]
6. (geology) A layer of rock or other homogeneous matter.^[3]

Word family

• bancal
• bancroche
• banquette

Related words

• banque
• banquet
• banquise

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse