banal English · revision 2137

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bəˈnɑːl/, /ˈbeɪnəl/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|banal]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) from Old French ''banel'' “communal”,^(Etymonline) from [[fro|ban|t=summons to military service; decree]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) of Germanic origin.^(AHD)^(Etymonline) It is related to English [[ban]].^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Relating to compulsory feudal service (1753).^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Under feudal law, ''banal'' described things owned by the lord and used in common by all his tenants, such as the manor's oven or mill, for which a fee was paid.^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) In French the sense widened from “open to everyone” to “common, ordinary” and then to “trite, petty”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989) English took the trite sense in the 19th century (1825 in Merriam-Webster; 1837 in the OED; 1840 in Barnhart).^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995) ''Banality'' follows in 1861.^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1753 – of compulsory feudal service.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1825 – lacking originality (Merriam-Webster's date).^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1837 – commonplace, trite.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1861 – ''banality''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Dull and commonplace through lack of originality or freshness; trite.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(historical)'' Relating to a feudal jurisdiction or service.^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[banalize]]

+ * [[banally]]

+ * [[banality]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ban]]

+ * [[banns]]

+ * [[bandit]]

+ * [[abandon]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The pronunciation is unsettled.^(AHD) The American Heritage Usage Panel was divided between rhyming it with ''anal'' (38 percent), with ''canal'' (46 percent), and with the last syllable like ''doll'' (14 percent, a pronunciation more common in British English); H. W. Fowler's recommended form rhyming with ''panel'' was preferred by only 2 percent.^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}