bank

Meaning

Noun

1. (countable) An institution where one can place and borrow money and take care of financial affairs.
2. (countable) A branch office of such an institution.
3. (countable) An underwriter or controller of a card game.
4. (countable) A fund from deposits or contributions, to be used in transacting business; a joint stock or capital.
5. (countable) The sum of money etc. which the dealer or banker has as a fund from which to draw stakes and pay losses.
6. (slang, uncountable) Money; profit.
7. (countable) In certain games, such as dominos, a fund of pieces from which the players are allowed to draw.
8. (countable, in-compounds) A safe and guaranteed place of storage for and retrieval of important items or goods.
9. (countable) A device used to store coins or currency.

Verb

1. (intransitive) To deal with a bank or financial institution, or for an institution to provide financial services to a client.
2. (transitive) To put into a bank.
3. (slang, transitive) To conceal in the rectum for use in prison.
4. (transitive) To provide banking services to.

Verb

1. (intransitive) To roll or incline laterally in order to turn.
2. (transitive) To cause (an aircraft) to bank.
3. (transitive) To form into a bank or heap, to bank up.
4. (intransitive) To form a bank; to gather in masses.
5. (transitive) To cover the embers of a fire with ashes in order to retain heat.
6. (transitive) To raise a mound or dike about; to enclose, defend, or fortify with a bank; to embank.
7. (obsolete, transitive) To pass by the banks of.
8. (UK) To provide additional power for a train ascending a bank (incline) by attaching another locomotive.

Verb

To arrange or order in a row.

Synonyms

shore

coast

edge

embankment

beach

🏖️

side

shoal

dike

riverbank

sandbank

border

rim

mound

dam

bench

slope

margin

stock

deposit

savings bank

rely

trust

cant

camber

corner

angle

riverside

brim

rake

ridge

wash

🧽

money box

strand

list

swear

waterside

cluster

berm

slant

cliff

entrenchment

levee

depository

fund

careen

banking company

bund

limit

sandbar

bank building

Translations

banque

🏦

Bank

banca

🏦

banco

🏦

Ufer

banco

🏦

rive

🏦

banc

bank

τράπεζα

orilla

riva

🏦

berge

🏦

bord

Pronounced as (IPA)

/bæŋk/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: banke

Inherited from Middle English: bank

Cognate with Old Norse: bakki

Cognate with Norwegian: bakke

Cognate with Old English: benc

In summary

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *bʰeg-der.
Proto-Germanic *bankiz
Proto-West Germanic *banki
Lombardic bankbor.
Italian bancabor.
Middle French banqueder.
English bank
From Middle English banke, from Middle French banque, from Italian banca (“counter, moneychanger's bench or table”), from Lombardic bank (“bench, counter”), from Proto-West Germanic *banki, from Proto-Germanic *bankiz (“bench, counter”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeg- (“to turn, curve, bend, bow”). Doublet of bench, banc, and banco.
For the bench-bank relation, compare typologically Russian ла́вка (lávka), прила́вок (prilávok).

Sentences

The wreck occurred by the bank on Main Street .

The bank prospered with help from the railroad .