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bande

Etymology and origin of the French word bande

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bande1 strip

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
first half of the 12th century (bende)
Borrowed from
Frankish *binda
Ultimate origin
Frankish (*binda)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /bɑ̃d/[1]

Forms

bande f (plural bandes)[1] Old French bende (1100–1150), then bande (1165–1170).[2][3]

Etymology

The strip is borrowed from Frankish *binda (“band, tie”).[3][4][5][1][6] Rey prefers an early borrowing from a general Germanic “*bindō-”, perhaps through the fur trade, rather than from Frankish, given its age across the Romance languages: Old Occitan banda in the 12th century, Italian benda in the 13th.[2] It belongs with the verb seen in Old English bindan (“to bind”) and Old High German bintan, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ- (“to bind”).[2][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first named a ring or hoop of metal used to strengthen something (before 1150), a sense still used by wheelwrights.[2]

Semantic evolution

Very soon it was defined by its shape: a long narrow piece of soft material for bandaging, edging or binding (1165–1170), and in heraldry a band crossing the shield (about 1175): trois bandes d'or.[2][7] The cushion of a billiard table is a bande from 1740, whence prendre par la bande “to approach indirectly” (about 1950).[2][8]

A long narrow strip of land is recorded about 1811, as in la bande de Gaza; in the 19th and 20th centuries came the frequency band (1882), the film reel and the magnetic tape.[2] Bande dessinée is found with certainty in 1940 and spread in 1949–1950, translating English comic strip; it is shortened to BD (1966).[2]

Timeline

  • before 1150 – Bende, a metal hoop.[2]
  • 1165–1170 – A strip of cloth.[2]
  • c. 1175 – A heraldic bend.[2]
  • 1740 – The cushion of a billiard table.[2]
  • c. 1811 – A strip of land.[2]
  • 1882 – A frequency band.[2]
  • 1940 – Bande dessinée.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A strip, a band of cloth, paper or other material: bande de papier; a bandage: bande Velpeau.[5][4][1]
  2. A stripe; a long narrow area: bande de terrain, la bande de Gaza; a lane: bande d'arrêt d'urgence.[1][2]
  3. A tape or film: bande magnétique, bande sonore, bande-annonce.[2][1]
  4. Bande dessinée: a comic strip, comics.[2][1]
  5. (billiards) The cushion, par la bande, indirectly.[2][1]
  6. (heraldry) A bend.[2][1]
  7. (physics) A band of frequencies.[2]

Word family

  • bandeau
  • bander
  • bandage
  • plate-bande

bande2 group, gang

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1360 (bende)
Borrowed from
Occitan banda
Ultimate origin
Old Occitan (banda)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /bɑ̃d/[1]

Forms

bande f (plural bandes)[1]

Etymology

The group is borrowed from Old Occitan banda (“troop, company”), a word of Germanic origin.[2] Rey thinks of Gothic 𐌱𐌰𐌽𐌳𐍅𐌰 (bandwa, “sign”), found in Medieval Latin as “bandum” “banner” (about 675), the Provençal feminine coming from the neuter plural “banda”; the sense passed from “standard” to the troop gathered under it.[2][9] The Grand Robert and the Petit Robert derive it from Italian banda, but Rey notes that the Italian word appears only in Machiavelli, too late.[3][5][2] Littré connected it with German Band “band, tie”.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is recorded in 1360 as bende, for a body of soldiers under one banner and one leader, Anglo-Norman has bande “band, troop” in the early 14th century.[2][5][10]

Semantic evolution

It meant a party or faction about 1460, and, from 1509 any group of people.[2] The word is often pejorative, as in bande de voleurs (1718), and bande de… followed by an insult; today it is used of violent urban gangs (une bande de jeunes).[2][5] It was also a band of musicians (1669), and in Haitian French a band of strolling players.[2][8] Faire bande à part dates from 1601.[2]

In Quebec a bande is a legally recognised First Nations community with its own territory (conseil de bande).[2]

Timeline

  • 1360 – Bende, a troop of soldiers.[2]
  • c. 1460 – A faction.[2]
  • 1509 – Any group of people.[2]
  • 1601 – Faire bande à part.[2]
  • 1669 – A band of musicians.[2]
  • 1718 – Bande de voleurs.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A group of people, a gang: bande de malfaiteurs, une bande d'amis, faire bande à part, to keep to oneself.[5][2]
  2. (pejorative) A pack: bande d'idiots !.[2]
  3. An armed band: bandes armées.[5]
  4. A pack or flock of animals.[1]
  5. (Quebec) A First Nations band.[2]

Word family

  • débander

Usage notes

A third bande, a sailors' word for the side of a ship (1515–1522) and its list (donner de la bande, 1773), comes from Old Provençal banda “side, edge”; the TLFi thinks this word was itself probably taken from Old French bende, the strip.[11][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 15/1, 111a
  7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  10. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  11. ^ Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Bande.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/bande. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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