English
balance
Balance comes from Old French balance ‘scales’, from Vulgar Latin *bilancia, from Latin bilanx ‘two-scaled’, from bi- + lanx ‘scalepan’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElanx‘plate’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEbilanx‘two-scaled’
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*bilanciareconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400balance‘scales’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500balaunce‘A set of scales’
- Englishearliest quotation 1692balance
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElanx‘plate’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEbilanx‘two-scaled’
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*bilanciareconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400balance‘scales’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500balaunce‘A set of scales’
- Englishearliest quotation 1692balance
Earliest quotation: 1692, Roger L’Estrange, (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name : “Ballance the Good and Evil of Things.”
Linked words
through Latin lanx ‘plate, scale’
Today it means
noun A state in which opposing forces harmonise; equilibrium.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin lanx / balance