English
bank
Bank comes from Italian banca ‘counter, moneychanger's bench or table’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰeg- ‘to turn, curve, bend, bow’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰeg-1‘to turn’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bankiz1‘bench’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*banki1‘bench’reconstructed
- Lombardicmodernbank1‘bench’
- Italianc. 1300–presentbanca1‘counter’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600banque1
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500banke1
- Englishearliest quotation 1625bank1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English bank
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1625, Francis Bacon, Of Usury: “Let it be no bank or common stock, but…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰeg-Wiktionary, English bank‘to turn’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bankizWiktionary, English bank‘bench’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*bankiWiktionary, English bank‘bench’reconstructed
- LombardicmodernbankWiktionary, English bank‘bench’
- Italianc. 1300–presentbancaWiktionary, English bank‘counter’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600banqueWiktionary, English bank
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bankeWiktionary, English bank
- Englishearliest quotation 1625bankWiktionary, English bank. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1625, Francis Bacon, Of Usury: “Let it be no bank or common stock, but…”
The story
For the bench-bank relation, compare typologically Russian ла́вка (lávka), прила́вок (prilávok).
Word family
English words that share an ancestor with bank, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰeg- ‘to turn, curve, bend, bow’
- back ← bak ← bæc ← *bak ← *baką
- beach ← bache ← beċe ← *baki ← *bakiz
- bitch ← biche ← biċċe ← *bikkjā ← *bikjǭ
- baker ← bakere ← bæcere ← *bakārī ← *bakārijaz
- batch ← bache ← bæċ ← *baki ← *bakiz
- petite ← petit ← petit ← *pittus ← *biggos
- petit ← *pittus ← *biggos ← *bʰég-ko-s
- baxter ← bakestere ← bæcestre ← bæcere ← *bakārī
- bicker ← bikeren ← bicken ← *bikken ← *bikkjan
- bichon ← biche ← biċċe ← *bikkjā ← *bikjǭ
through Proto-West Germanic *banki ‘bench’
- bench ← benċ
through Lombardic bank ‘bench, counter’
- banquet ← banket ← banchetto ← banco
18 more relatives in the full family tree
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Another origin of bank
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bankô‘bank, embankment’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*bankōreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150*banca‘bench’reconstructed
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bank‘the bank of a river or lake’
- Englishtodaybank
From Middle English bank, banke, from Old English *banca (‘bench’) (attested in Old English hōbanca (‘couch’) and Old English banc (‘bank, hillock, embankment’), from Proto-West Germanic *bankō, from Proto-Germanic *bankô.
Another origin of bank
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰeg-‘to bend, curve, arch’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bankiz‘bench’reconstructed
- Frankishc. 250–700*bankireconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400banc‘bench’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bank‘the bank of a river or lake’
- Englishtodaybank
Another origin of bank
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰeg-‘to bend, curve, arch’uncertain
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bankiz‘bench’uncertain
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*banki‘bench’uncertain
- Old High Germanc. 750–1050bancuncertain
- Frenchc. 1600–presentbancuncertain
- Englishtodaybank
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Today it means
noun An institution where one can place and borrow money and take care of financial affairs.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “bank”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰeg- / bank