en bank

Definition & meaning

Bank has several meanings:

• A bank: a financial institution that handles money, loans and payments.
• A bank or ridge: a raised mass of earth, sand or other material, such as a sandbank.
• A supply or collection of something, as in a blood bank or database.
• In informal Swedish, a beating or physical punishment.

Grammar & Word origin

Bank is an en-word. The financial sense is inflected en bank, banken, banker, bankerna. The sense “beating” is normally uncountable.

The financial term ultimately comes from Italian banca, meaning “bench” or “money changer’s table.” The other senses have different origins.

Synonyms & antonyms

• finansinstitut ↗ — “financial institution”; a broader term that includes organizations other than banks.
• stryk ↗ — “a beating”; an informal synonym for the physical-punishment sense.

There is no common direct antonym for bank in these senses.

Common phrases & collocations

• gå till banken ↗ — go to the bank.
• sätta in pengar på banken ↗ — deposit money in the bank.
• få bank ↗ — get beaten up.
• ge någon bank ↗ — give someone a beating.
• sandbank ↗ — sandbank.
• blodbank ↗ — blood bank.