English
banal
Banal comes from French banal ‘held in common, relating to feudal service, by…’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- ‘to shine, glow light’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰeh₂-‘to shine, glow light’root as named · steps between not traced
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400banel
- Frenchc. 1600–presentbanal‘held in common, relating to feudal service, by extension commonplace’
- Englishearliest quotation 1926banal
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰeh₂-‘to shine, glow light’root as named · steps between not traced
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400banel
- Frenchc. 1600–presentbanal‘held in common, relating to feudal service, by extension commonplace’
- Englishearliest quotation 1926banal
Earliest quotation: 1926, Thomas Guérin, Feudal Canada: The Story of the Seigniories of New France: “They arrived in 1732, and were distributed gratis to…”
Formed from ban + -al
Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- ‘to speak’
…
Proto-Germanic *bannaną ‘to proclaim’
Proto-West Germanic *bannan ‘to proclaim’
Old English bannan ‘to summon, command, proclaim’
Middle English bannen ‘to summon’
English ban
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- ‘to shine, glow light’
phone, focus, professor, famous, fuel, ben, phase, favor, favourite, fate, fame, photographer, fantasy, emphasis, phenomenon, profession, bee, fairy, fabulous, fancy, confession, confess, fatal, symphony, ban, beacon, infant, beck, phantom, abandon, boon, eff, fab, fay, prophetic, fable, foyer, buoy, nefarious, epiphany, 129 more
Today it means
adj Common in a boring way, to the point of being predictable; containing nothing new or fresh.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- / banal