Bankbook

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈbæŋkˌbʊk/

Definitions

1. A booklet recording the deposits, withdrawals, and balance of a financial account
2. A physical book used to keep track of money deposited and withdrawn from a bank account
3. A document that serves as a detailed record of transactions and current balance in a banking account

Etymology: Bankbook is a plain compound: "bank" joined to "book." The "bank" part has a longer and more surprising story. It traces back through Proto-Germanic "bankiz," meaning a bench or raised platform, and passed into the Romance languages as the Lombardic "banka," which became Italian "banca." In medieval Italy, the word described the bench or counter where money-changers sat to trade coins, and that counter-table image is the origin of the financial sense. It reached English through Middle French "banque" and entered the language with the sense of a place where money is held. The "book" half comes from Proto-Germanic "bōks," which is related to the word for beech, since early Germanic peoples wrote on beech wood tablets. Old English "bōc" gave Middle English "bok" and then modern "book." Put together, the bankbook is a booklet kept by a bank to record an account's transactions. The compound follows the usual English pattern of joining two existing words rather than coining something new.

Synonyms: bank statement, account book