Afrikaans bankie | ||
Albanian stol | ||
Amharic አግዳሚ ወንበር | ||
Arabic مقاعد البدلاء | ||
Armenian նստարան | ||
Assamese বেঞ্চ | ||
Aymara wanku | ||
Azerbaijani dəzgah | ||
Bambara ban | ||
Basque bankua | ||
Belarusian лаўка | ||
Bengali এজলাস | ||
Bhojpuri बेंच | ||
Bosnian klupa | ||
Bulgarian пейка | ||
Catalan banc | ||
Cebuano bangko | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 板凳 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 板凳 | ||
Corsican panca | ||
Croatian klupa | ||
Czech lavice | ||
Danish bænk | ||
Dhivehi ހޮޅުއަށި | ||
Dogri बेंच | ||
Dutch bank | ||
English bench | ||
Esperanto benko | ||
Estonian pink | ||
Ewe zikpuilegbe | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) bangko | ||
Finnish penkki | ||
French banc | ||
Frisian bank | ||
Galician banco | ||
Georgian სკამი | ||
German bank | ||
Greek παγκάκι | ||
Guarani mesa mba'aporã | ||
Gujarati બેંચ | ||
Haitian Creole ban | ||
Hausa benci | ||
Hawaiian pākaukau | ||
Hebrew סַפְסָל | ||
Hindi बेंच | ||
Hmong lub rooj ntev zaum | ||
Hungarian pad | ||
Icelandic bekkur | ||
Igbo bench | ||
Ilocano papag | ||
Indonesian bangku | ||
Irish binse | ||
Italian panchina | ||
Japanese ベンチ | ||
Javanese bangku | ||
Kannada ಬೆಂಚ್ | ||
Kazakh орындық | ||
Khmer លេងជាកីឡាករបម្រុង | ||
Kinyarwanda intebe | ||
Konkani बांक | ||
Korean 벤치 | ||
Krio bɛnch | ||
Kurdish dika | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) قەراغ | ||
Kyrgyz отургуч | ||
Lao ຕັ່ງ | ||
Latin scamnum | ||
Latvian sols | ||
Lingala banc | ||
Lithuanian suolas | ||
Luganda entebe | ||
Luxembourgish bänk | ||
Macedonian клупа | ||
Maithili अदालत | ||
Malagasy dabilio | ||
Malay bangku simpanan | ||
Malayalam ബെഞ്ച് | ||
Maltese bank | ||
Maori papa | ||
Marathi खंडपीठ | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯐꯝꯅꯕ ꯐꯥꯟ | ||
Mizo thutthleng | ||
Mongolian вандан | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) ခုံတန်းရှည် | ||
Nepali बेन्च | ||
Norwegian benk | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) benchi | ||
Odia (Oriya) ବେଞ୍ଚ | ||
Oromo barcuma | ||
Pashto بنچ | ||
Persian نیمکت | ||
Polish ławka | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) banco | ||
Punjabi ਬੈਂਚ | ||
Quechua tiyana | ||
Romanian bancă | ||
Russian скамейка | ||
Samoan nofoa | ||
Sanskrit पीठ | ||
Scots Gaelic being | ||
Sepedi panka | ||
Serbian клупа | ||
Sesotho benche | ||
Shona bhenji | ||
Sindhi بينچ | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) බංකුව | ||
Slovak lavica | ||
Slovenian klop | ||
Somali keydka | ||
Spanish banco | ||
Sundanese bangku | ||
Swahili benchi | ||
Swedish bänk | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) bangko | ||
Tajik курсӣ | ||
Tamil பெஞ்ச் | ||
Tatar эскәмия | ||
Telugu బెంచ్ | ||
Thai ม้านั่ง | ||
Tigrinya ኮፍ መበሊ | ||
Tsonga benci | ||
Turkish bank | ||
Turkmen oturgyç | ||
Twi (Akan) akonnwa | ||
Ukrainian лава | ||
Urdu بینچ | ||
Uyghur ئورۇندۇق | ||
Uzbek skameyka | ||
Vietnamese băng ghế | ||
Welsh mainc | ||
Xhosa isitulo | ||
Yiddish באַנק | ||
Yoruba ibujoko | ||
Zulu ibhentshi |
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The Afrikaans word "bankie" originated from the English word "bench" and also refers to a type of small bench used for milking cows. |
| Albanian | The word 'stol' also means 'throne' in certain contexts. |
| Amharic | The word "agidami wenber" in Amharic can also refer to a "judge" or an "umpire". |
| Arabic | The word "مقاعد البدلاء" can also refer to a group of substitutes in a sports team. |
| Azerbaijani | "Dəzgah" also means "loom" in Azerbaijani. |
| Basque | The word "bankua" also means "bank" in Basque, due to the similarity between the functions of a financial institution and a bench. |
| Belarusian | The word "лаўка" can also refer to a small shop or a stall in a market. |
| Bengali | The word "এজলাস" originally meant "a sitting" or "a session". However, it came to be used to refer to a bench because benches are often used for sitting or for holding sessions. |
| Bosnian | The word 'klupa' can also refer to the wooden frame of the loom or the frame on which the child sits during circumcision. |
| Bulgarian | The word "пейка" is derived from the Turkic word "bek" meaning "seat" or "throne". |
| Catalan | In the medieval Catalan legal texts the banc was a special court that judged on mercantile affairs. |
| Cebuano | "Bangko" also refers to a "river bank" in Cebuano, showing how the language is influenced by its geographical environment. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 板凳 (bǎndèng) originally referred to a small, square stool used for seating, and later extended to mean a longer, rectangular bench used as a public seat. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 板凳's initial meaning is a form of punishment in which one kneels on a wooden plank. |
| Corsican | In Corsican, panca can also refer to the seat of a shepherd or the deck of a small boat. |
| Croatian | The word "klupa" in Croatian also means "a school desk". |
| Czech | The Czech word "lavice" has Slavic roots, related to "lawa" in Polish, "lava" in Russian, and "láva" in Hungarian, all meaning "bench". |
| Danish | The Danish word "bænk" is derived from the Old Norse word "benkr" meaning "a long seat without a back". |
| Dutch | "Bank" in Dutch can also mean slope, coast, and side of a bed or ship. |
| Esperanto | The word "benko" is derived from the French "banc" and can also mean "bank" in Esperanto. |
| Estonian | In Estonian, the word "pink" can also refer to a "heap" or a "pile". |
| Finnish | Penkki derives from the Indo-European root *penk - "five", possibly because the first benches had five legs. |
| French | The French word "banc" also means a sandbank or a shoal. |
| Frisian | In Frisian, the word "bank" additionally means "embankment" or "shore". |
| Galician | Galician "banco" also refers to "the house" in a gambling context. |
| Georgian | "სკამი" also means "row" (in a theatre, for example) or "seat" (in a car) in Georgian. |
| German | In German, “Bank” can also refer to a financial institution or the side of a river. |
| Greek | In Ancient Greek, παγκάκι referred to an Athenian public assembly, similar to the Roman senate. |
| Gujarati | The Gujarati word "બેંચ" is borrowed from the Persian word "banch" and the Latin word "bancus," both of which mean "bench" or "seat." |
| Haitian Creole | The Haitian Creole word "ban" is derived from the French word "banc," meaning "bench," and also refers to a traditional gathering place for social interaction in Haitian culture. |
| Hausa | The word "benci" can also refer to a type of grass that grows in clumps. |
| Hawaiian | The word "pākaukau" is also an onomatopoeia for the sound of someone sitting down on a bench. |
| Hebrew | ספסל also refers to a religious court, especially one that deals with Jewish law |
| Hindi | The word "बेंच" is also used to refer to a row of athletes in a race, or to a group of lawyers who are representing the same client. |
| Hmong | The term "lub rooj ntev zaum" literally means "a long plank of wood for sitting on" in Hmong. |
| Hungarian | The Hungarian word "pad" also means "floor", while the word "padló" means "carpet". |
| Icelandic | Icelandic "bekkur" (bench) comes from Old Norse "bekkr", meaning stream, because people often gathered and rested by the flowing waters. |
| Igbo | In the Igbo language, the word bench may also refer to a traditional gathering place in communities. |
| Indonesian | The Indonesian word "bangku" is derived from the Sanskrit word "pangu", meaning "seat". |
| Irish | The Irish word "binse" is derived from the Proto-Celtic word "*bensikos", which also meant "table" or "board". |
| Italian | In Tuscany, "panchina" also refers to the back of a wooden wagon or cart. |
| Japanese | "ベンチ" can be read as either ベンチ (benchi), meaning "bench", or ベント (bento), meaning "packed lunch." |
| Javanese | The word "bangku" in Javanese has roots in Sanskrit and also means "bed" or "bedstead". |
| Kannada | The word "ಬೆಂಚ್" can also mean a judicial tribunal or the judges who preside over it. |
| Kazakh | The word "орындық" can also refer to a "seat" or a "cushion" in Kazakh. |
| Khmer | While bench is an English word, the meaning in Khmer specifically refers to someone who waits for their turn to play a sport. |
| Korean | The word "bench" (벤치) in Korean can also refer to a kind of low table used for traditional Korean dining. |
| Kurdish | In addition to its primary meaning of "bench," dika also refers to a type of traditional Kurdish bread |
| Kyrgyz | The word "отургуч" (bench) is derived from the verb "отур-" (to sit), indicating its primary use as a seating surface. |
| Lao | In Lao, the word "ຕັ່ງ" can also refer to a type of wooden frame used to support mattresses or as an altar in a Buddhist temple. |
| Latin | Scamnum derives from 'scapus' ('shaft, stem') referring to its wooden supports. |
| Latvian | The word "sols" in Latvian derives from the Proto-Indo-European root *sed- "to sit". |
| Lithuanian | "Suolas" also means "swamp" or "moor" in some dialects and old texts. |
| Luxembourgish | In modern Luxembourgish "Bänk" is also used as a synonym for "Bierbänk" (beer bench). |
| Macedonian | The word "клупа" (bench) in Macedonian also denotes the wooden plank used in a loom, as well as the torture instrument composed of a wooden board with holes drilled into it and a lever, used for compressing the legs and/or neck. |
| Malagasy | The word "dabilio" is thought to derive either from the word "dabio" meaning "sitting" or "dabila" meaning "plank". |
| Malay | The word "bangku simpanan" in Malay has the alternate meaning of "reserve bench" or "substitutes bench" in sports. |
| Malayalam | The word "ബെഞ്ച്" (bench) in Malayalam can also refer to a plank used for sitting or lying on, particularly in a rural setting. |
| Maltese | The word 'bank' in Maltese derives from the Sicilian 'banca', originally meaning 'table' or 'counter'. |
| Maori | In addition to meaning 'bench', 'papa' means 'flat surface', 'floor', 'earth', 'placenta' or 'flat rock'. |
| Marathi | The word "खंडपीठ" is derived from the Sanskrit words "खंड" (piece) and "पीठ" (seat), and can also refer to a broken seat or a seat made of pieces. |
| Mongolian | The Mongolian word "avan" can also refer to a type of table. |
| Myanmar (Burmese) | The word "khon tan shin" comes from the words "khon" (base) and "tan shin" (long), referring to its shape and function as a long base for sitting. |
| Nepali | The word "बेन्च" also means "judicial court" in Nepali. |
| Norwegian | In some Norwegian dialects, "benk" can also refer to a prayer table or to a shelf. |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | In Nyanja, 'benchi' also refers to a platform built for drying fish, or a wooden slatted platform used for storage. |
| Pashto | In Pashto, "بنچ" can also refer to a type of traditional wooden platform used for sitting or sleeping in the courtyard of a house. |
| Persian | نیمکت (nimkat) derives from the Arabic word 'namat' meaning 'woven thing' and refers to a wide variety of objects, including blankets, rugs, and seat coverings. |
| Polish | While "ławka" primarily means "bench" in Polish, it can also refer to a "seat" or even an "exam". |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | The word "Banco" in Portuguese has multiple meanings, including bank, bench, and sandbank. |
| Punjabi | The word "ਬੈਂਚ" can also mean "a panel of judges" in legal contexts. |
| Romanian | "Bancă" can also mean "bank" in Romanian, derived from the Italian word "banca" with the same meaning. |
| Russian | "Скамейка" is a diminutive form of "скамья" (a bench), akin to "скамни" (low benches, footstools). |
| Samoan | Nofo means 'sit' in Samoan and is similar to other Polynesian languages like Tongan (nofo), Rapa Nui (noho), and Maori (noho) |
| Scots Gaelic | 'Being' in Scots Gaelic also means 'existence' or 'state of being'. |
| Serbian | "Клупа" originates from the Old Slavic word "klъpa", meaning "a wooden plank", and its plural form "клупи" also means "stocks". |
| Sesotho | The word "benche" is derived from the Afrikaans word "bank", which originally meant "bench" but now commonly refers to a "bank". |
| Shona | The word 'bhenji' is thought to have originated from the Shona word 'mheni', meaning 'row' or 'line'. |
| Sindhi | بينچ originates from Persian "بين" or "بنياد" (foundation) and means "foundation stone". It is also used to mean "base" or "root". The English word bench comes from Old English "benc", which in turn came from Old Norse and Proto-Germanic "banka" (plank or board), and has cognates such as French "banc", Italian "banco", Spanish "banca". |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | Although the most common meaning of "බංකුව" is "bench", it can also refer to a financial institution like a bank or the place where judges sit in a courtroom. |
| Slovak | Lavica, the Slovak word for "bench" was derived from the word "lava" which can mean "rock" or "magma". |
| Slovenian | The word "klop" can also mean "a wooden trap for small animals" or "a piece of wood used to level a surface" |
| Somali | The Somali word 'keydka' can also refer to a table or a bed, and is derived from the verb 'keed' meaning 'to set' or 'to spread out'. |
| Spanish | The Spanish word 'banco' ('bench') also refers to a financial institution (bank), likely due to the historical use of benches for money exchange. |
| Sundanese | The word "bangku" has a homophone that means "big" in Sundanese. |
| Swahili | In Swahili, "benchi" can also refer to a bed or a seat in a vehicle. |
| Swedish | Bänk also means 'row' in the sense of a line of something, like a line of trees or houses. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | Bangko also refers to a bank or money table. |
| Tajik | The word "курсӣ" (bench) in Tajik is also used to refer to a small, low table, especially one used for serving food. |
| Tamil | In Tamil, "பெஞ்ச்" can also mean "a group of people sitting together to judge or decide something", similar to the English term "bench" in legal contexts. |
| Telugu | The Telugu word 'బెంచ్' also has a secondary meaning, referring to a judicial tribunal or court. |
| Thai | In some parts of Thailand, "ม้านั่ง" (bench) is also used to refer to a bed or a sofa. |
| Turkish | In Turkish, "banka" can mean both "bench" and "bank", but the latter is derived from the Italian word "banco" meaning "table". |
| Ukrainian | In Ukrainian, "лава" can also refer to a layer (geological) or a row in a theater. |
| Urdu | Derived from the Persian "bink," the word "بینچ" has a second meaning, which is "shelf." |
| Uzbek | The word "skameyka" comes from the Russian word "скамейка" and has the same meaning in Uzbek. |
| Vietnamese | The word "Băng ghế" can also refer to a group of people who sit together in a meeting or assembly. |
| Welsh | The Welsh word "mainc" is also used to refer to the top or surface of something, or to the side of a hill. |
| Xhosa | Although 'isitulo' means 'bench', in the context of Xhosa custom and tradition, 'isitulo' also represents a place of safety, comfort and acceptance. |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word "באַנק" (bank) can also refer to a financial institution, likely derived from the Italian word "banca" meaning table or counter. |
| Yoruba | "Ibojoko" can also mean "a stool". |
| Zulu | 'Ibhenchi' is likely derived from the isiZulu word 'igwenya,' meaning 'crocodile,' due to their shared characteristics of being long and flat. |
| English | "Bench" can also mean a group of judges, or a table or work surface in a laboratory or workshop. |