Where does the word bankrupt come from?
The word “bankrupt” comes from Italian banca rotta, which literally translated means “broken bench.” In Italy, money dealers worked from tables, or benches. When a money dealer ran out of money, his table (or bench) would be broken, and he could no longer deal money. Hence, the development of the use of the word banca rotta. The word had its French equivalent, banqueroute, and then made its way into the English language in the mid 1500s. The term was used both as a figure of speech, as well as a literal definition to describe what happened to a few unfortunate folks. The Chinese word 无钱的 means having no money. Many people think the word comes from the literal meaning of breaking of a bank.
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11 Comments
Jacqueline Tattam
Excellent question - thank you
Coral Harvey
Basis of most modern day terms is in fact Latin. So the Italian broken bench made sense. The fact that Jews made a living out of sitting behind a bench in front of their door ways was the basis whereby bank was derived from bench .
Howard Groopman
Easy for me. I worked over 21 years in the bankruptcy field.
tbear
Todd Cates, 👍😊
George Oliver Prince
Always learning
hector tubens
Interesting info.
Robert Mookerdum
The fact is the Vatican/Catholic Church condemned the Jews in Italy to practise the 'lowly' occupation of money lending only,and by dressing themselves in black and sitting on benches (banks) in front of their abode,so they can be distinguished from the Gentiles.The word 'Bank' or 'Banker' came into being.Bankrupt is derived from this.Banking became one of the most influential occupations thanks to the tenacity and resolve of the Jewish people who knew and still know how to make the best out of the worst situation.
Joseph A. Robitaille
Good guess.
Rob Farr
Thanks for a great trivia question and explanation.
Jim Hill
come on people- banca rotta, lol, sounds like bankrupt to me in a very heavy italian accent...okay, I cheated, but i learned something in the process. ( :
Stuart Heller
I en enjoy learning about the origin of words. Thank you for providing an interesting and informative AP.