bankruptcy

Where does the word "bankruptcy" come from? It comes from Italian banca rotta, passing through French and English before entering English (1700s).

Bankruptcy’s story begins in Italian: banca rotta meant “broken bench.” 'broken bench': a banker's table smashed when he could not pay, from 'banca', bench, a Germanic word, and 'rotta', broken. By 1500s, the word had taken hold in French as banqueroute. Borrowed with Italian banking. From there it passed into English as bankrupt by 1530s. Reshaped to match the Latin 'ruptus', broken. It reached English by 1700s as bankruptcy. The noun 'bankruptcy' followed in the 1700s. Today, bankruptcy means the state of being unable to pay one's debts.

1. Stage 1 · Italian · 1400s banca rotta "broken bench", 'broken bench': a banker's table smashed when he could not pay, from 'banca', bench, a Germanic word, and 'rotta', broken.
2. Stage 2 · French · 1500s banqueroute "insolvency", borrowed with Italian banking.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1530s bankrupt "insolvent", reshaped to match the Latin 'ruptus', broken.
4. Stage 4 · English · 1700s bankruptcy "insolvency", the noun 'bankruptcy' followed in the 1700s.