bankrupt English · revision 153
5 Oct 2026, 22:07 by bogdan “Add pronunciation, sense history, timeline, meanings, word family, related words” current version
Changes in this edit
@@ -1,6 +1,40 @@
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA: /ˈbæŋk.ɹəpt/, /ˈbæŋk.ɹʌpt/^(Wiktionary)
+
==Etymology==
− Recorded from the 1530s as a noun, “insolvent person”,^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) and from the 1560s as an adjective.^(Etymonline) In the 16th century it appears as ''banke rota'' and ''banqueroute'',^(OED 1989) [[bor|it|banca rotta|t=broken bench]] and its adaptation [[fr|banqueroute]],^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate) from ''banca'' “moneylender's bench” (see [[bank]]) + ''rotta'' “broken”,^(Etymonline)^(AHD) from Latin ''rupta'', feminine past participle of [[la|rumpere|t=to break]].^(MW Collegiate)^(Etymonline) The second element was later remodelled on Latin ''ruptus''.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)
+ In the 16th century it appears as ''banke rota'' and ''banqueroute'',^(OED 1989) [[bor|it|banca rotta|t=broken bench]] and its adaptation [[fr|banqueroute]],^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate) from ''banca'' “moneylender's bench” (see [[bank]]) + ''rotta'' “broken”,^(Etymonline)^(AHD) from Latin ''rupta'', feminine past participle of [[la|rumpere|t=to break]].^(MW Collegiate)^(Etymonline) The second element was later remodelled on Latin ''ruptus''.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)
− The name is said to come from an old custom of breaking the bench of a bankrupt moneylender,^(Etymonline)^(Wiktionary) but the allusion is probably figurative.^(Etymonline)
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ As a noun, “insolvent person” (1530s);^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989) the OED also records “the break-up of a trader's business” from 1539.^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ The name is said to come from an old custom of breaking the bench of a bankrupt moneylender,^(Etymonline)^(Wiktionary) but the allusion is probably figurative.^(Etymonline) Using the word for the person rather than the failure is peculiar to English.^(OED 1989) The verb (1550s) and adjective (1560s) followed,^(Etymonline) and the figurative sense “wholly lacking in some quality” dates from the 1580s.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 1533 – “one who has brought himself into debt”.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)
+ * 1539 – “the break-up of a trader's business”.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1552 – verb, “to become bankrupt”.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)
+ * 1560s – adjective.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)
+ * 1580s – figurative, non-financial senses.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A person or organization legally declared unable to pay their debts.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+ # A person wholly lacking in some quality, as in ''a moral bankrupt''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)
+
+ ===Adjective===
+ # Legally declared insolvent; financially ruined.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+ # Completely lacking in some good quality; ruined.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ===Verb===
+ # To make bankrupt; to ruin.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[bankruptcy]]
+ * [[bankruptive]]
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[bank]]
+ * [[rupture]]
==References==