banca Italian · revision 38332

+ DELI and Nocentini number two nouns ''banca'': an old word for a bench, taken from Germanic, and the word for a bank, an Italian derivative of [[banco]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) GRADIT gives them in the opposite order.^(GRADIT 2003)

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+ {{homograph|1|bench}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=early 13th century, Uguccione da Lodi|origins=gem-pro *bankiz}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈban.ka/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''banca''' ''f'' (plural banche)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The bench is a Germanic loanword.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(DEI|422) It is [[bor|lng|*banka|t=bench]] for Devoto–Oli, Gabrielli and Prati, while DELI and Sabatini–Coletti speak of a Germanic collective of [[m|gem-pro|*bank]].^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Prati 1951|107)^(DELI 1999)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) Wiktionary traces the Germanic word to [[gem-pro|*bankiz]].^(Wiktionary) DEI notes that the masculine form already existed in Germanic, and that the derivative [[bancale]] suggests the word entered spoken Latin.^(DEI|422) It is cognate with [[goh|banch]] and [[en|bench]].^(Zaccaria 1901)

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+ The same Germanic word came into Italian by several routes: [[panca]] from Lombardic, and [[banco]], which DELI and Nocentini take from Frankish.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is in the ''Libro'' of Uguccione da Lodi, written in the Cremona area at the start of the 13th century.^(TLIO)^(Nocentini 2010) Its Old Italian senses were a table outside a shop for displaying goods, the table at which judges sat, and a bench for sitting or lying on.^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Francesco da Barberino, before 1348, tells of someone who often slept ''per casa su per le banche'' (“about the house on the benches”).^(GDLI|2, 32)^(DELI 1999) The word is recorded for a shop counter in Ferrara in 1385 and for a table in the 15th century.^(DELI 1999) In many medieval Italian cities ''la banca'' was the supreme magistracy, which sat on a wooden bench, and then the court; it was also the table where soldiers were enrolled, and the register of their names.^(Treccani 2011)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) Tommaseo notes that in Siena ''banca'' was the bench that Florentines called ''panca''.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

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+ Today the word is obsolete or regional except in hydraulic engineering, for a stepped embankment that strengthens a river bank.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GDLI|2, 32) Its diminutive ''bancarella'', a street stall, spread from southern Italy;^(DELI 1999) Matilde Serao used it in 1889.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Early 13th century – Uguccione da Lodi uses ''banca''.^(TLIO)

+ * Before 1348 – Francesco da Barberino uses it for a bench.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1385 – It is recorded for a shop counter in Ferrara.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1688 – The diminutive ''banchina'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1889 – Matilde Serao uses ''bancarelle''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(obsolete or regional)'' A [[m|en|bench]]; a counter or table.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(historical)'' The supreme [[m|en|magistracy]] of some medieval Italian cities; a court.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(historical)'' The table where soldiers were enrolled, and the register of their names.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(hydraulics)'' A stepped [[m|en|embankment]] that reinforces the bank of a river.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bancarella]]

+ * [[bancarellista]]

+ * [[banchina]]

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+ {{homograph|2|bank}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=before 1665, Lorenzo Lippi|origins=frk *bank}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈban.ka/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''banca''' ''f'' (plural banche)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The bank is an Italian derivative of [[banco]], the long wooden table of a shop and especially of the money-changers and lenders.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) DELI notes that the older word for the institution is the masculine form;^(DELI 1999) Panzini thought the feminine was taken back from French.^(DELI 1999) That noun is itself from [[frk|*bank|t=bench]], according to DELI and Nocentini.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

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+ The sense “credit institution” arose in Italy at the time of its mercantile supremacy.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DELI 1999) [[fr|banque]], recorded in 1458, was taken from Italian and spread the word to other European languages, including [[m|en|bank]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(DIFIT) German had [[m|de|Bank]] for the money-changer's table from 1289 and for the institution from 1399.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record of ''banca'' as a credit institution is in Lorenzo Lippi's ''Malmantile'', before 1665: ''qualsivoglia banca te lo crede'' (“any bank will give it to you on credit”).^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|2, 33) GRADIT dates it before 1655.^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The derivatives are older than this use of the feminine noun, since they were formed on ''banco'': ''banchiere'' is recorded as ''bankiere'' in 1211, ''bancarotta'' in 1546, and ''bancario'' before 1566 in Annibal Caro.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) ''Bancarotta'' comes from ''banca rotta'', after the custom of breaking the counter of a merchant who had failed.^(Nocentini 2010) In the 19th century the economist Gerolamo Boccardo still held that the proper Italian word was ''banco''.^(GDLI|2, 33)

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+ The sense “building where a bank has its offices” is recorded in Tommaseo in 1865, and the sense of a store of organs or tissue for transplants in 1950, perhaps from English.^(DELI 1999) ''Banca d'affari'' renders English [[m|en|merchant bank]], and ''banca dati'' is a database.^(DELI 1999)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1211 – ''Bankiere'' “banker” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1458 – French ''banque'' is recorded.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1546 – ''Bancarotta'' is recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * Before 1665 – Lorenzo Lippi uses ''banca'' for a credit institution.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1865 – The sense “bank building” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1950 – The sense “organ bank” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|bank]], a firm that takes deposits, lends money and offers financial services: ''Ho chiesto un prestito alla banca.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # The building or branch where a bank has its offices: ''La banca apre alle otto e mezza.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # A centre that collects and stores biological material for medical use: ''banca del sangue''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(computing)'' In ''banca dati'', a [[m|en|database]].^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bancario]]

+ * [[banchiere]]

+ * [[bancabile]]

+ * [[bancarotta]]

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[banco]]

+ * [[panca]]

+ * [[bancale]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Banca'' and ''banco'' were long interchangeable for a bank: the Banco di Napoli and the Banco di Sicilia keep the masculine.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|2, 33) In games of chance ''tenere il banco'' is to hold the bank, formerly ''tenere banca''.^(DELI 1999)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}