English

Etymology

Spanish; see abancalar

Noun

bancal (plural bancales)

  1. An ornamental covering, as of carpet or leather, for a bench or form.
    • 1894, Arthur Conan Doyle, The White Company, page 217:
      A few rich settles and bancals, choicely carved and decorated with glazed leather hangings of the sort termed or basané, completed the furniture of the apartment.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for bancal”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

Catalan

Etymology

From banc (bench) +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

Noun

bancal m (plural bancals)

  1. storage bench
    Synonyms: arquibanc, caixabanc
  2. a piece of carpet or cloth covering furniture
  3. bed, plot, terrace, parcel (agricultural)
    Synonym: feixa
  4. predella

Further reading

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Old Occitan bancal, from Medieval Latin bancālis, from the base of Proto-Germanic *bankiz + -alis.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /bɑ̃.kal/
  • Audio (CAN):(file)

Adjective

bancal (feminine bancale, masculine plural bancals, feminine plural bancales)

  1. bow-legged, bandy-legged (of person)
  2. rickety, wobbly (of table etc.)
  3. shaky, unclear, illogical

Further reading

Galician

Etymology

Attested since the 14th century. From banco (bench) +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

Noun

bancal m (plural bancais)

  1. bancal
    • 1326, López Ferreiro, Antonio (ed.): Galicia Histórica. Colección diplomática. Santiago: Tipografía Galaica, page 295:
      mando esta mia cama assy como iaz con sous panos et con suas cortinas et ceo et con sous alfamares et con los outros destalos que eu trago comunalmente pela terra et con vn pano uerde et un tapete sen bançaes
      I bequeath this my bed, as it is, with its clothes and with its curtains and ceiling and with its quilts and with the other rugs that I have usually in the ground and with a green cloth and a tablecloth, no bancals

References

Spanish

Noun

bancal m (plural bancales)

  1. plot (of land, for planting)

Further reading

Venetian

Alternative forms

Noun

bancal m (plural bancałi)

  1. pallet
  2. sill, windowsill