banquette

See also: banquet

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French banquette, the diminutive form of banc; by surface analysis, bank +‎ -ette.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /baŋˈkɛt/, /bɒ̃ˈkɛt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /bæŋˈkɛt/
• Rhymes: -ɛt

Noun

banquette (plural banquettes)

1. (military) A narrow area behind a defensive wall's parapet elevated above its terreplein and used by defenders to shoot at attackers.
2. A bench built into a wall, especially (military) one built into a wall of a defensive trench, used for sitting and for shooting at attackers.
3. An upholstered bench, e.g., along a wall of a restaurant or lounge area.
   • 2017, Fiona Lewis, Mistakes Were Made (Some in French), Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 165:

     Stoned, she would traipse in, overtly sexual in last night's dress, and throw herself exhausted across the banquette.

4. (dated) A bench or similar seat on top of a diligence or other public vehicle.
   • 1899, Julia Ward Howe, Reminiscences:

     My brother-in-law […] took refuge in the banquette.

5. (Louisiana, Texas) A sidewalk.
   • 1899, Kate Chopin, The Awakening:

     The boys were dragging along the banquette a small “express wagon,” which they had filled with blocks and sticks.

   • a. 1969, John Kennedy Toole, A Confederacy of Dunces, Penguin, published 1981, →ISBN:

     “Get the hell away from that stove, Charmaine, and go play out on the banquette before I bust you right in the mouth.”

References

• “banquette”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “banquette”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• banquette on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian banchetta, diminutive of banca (“bench”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɑ̃.kɛt/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

banquette f (plural banquettes)

1. bench

Derived terms

• banquette de tir

Descendants

• → English: banquette
• → Russian: банке́т (bankét) (see there for further descendants)
• → Serbo-Croatian: bànkēt, ба̀нке̄т
• → Turkish: banket

Further reading

• “banquette”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.