hobanca (Old English)

Where does "hobanca" come from?

The Old English noun 'hobanca', which refers to a 'couch', is a compound word constructed from 'hōh' and 'banca'[1]. The element 'hōh', meaning 'hough', 'heel', or 'headland', traces back through Proto-West Germanic 'hą̄h'[6] to Proto-Germanic 'hanhaz'[2], eventually originating from the Proto-Indo-European root 'kenk-' associated with a 'joint' or 'legbone'[5]. Its partner 'banca' derives from the Proto-West Germanic 'bankō' and Proto-Germanic 'bankô'[3], a term linked to the concept of a 'slope', 'hill', or 'shelf'[4].

Open questions

The derivation of the Proto-Indo-European root 'kenk-' from an earlier form is disputed among linguists. [7]

Full etymology tree

hobanca (Old English), 'a couch'
- compound hoh (Old English), 'The heel (rear of a foot)'
  - inherited *hą̄h (Proto-West Germanic), 'heel'
    - inherited *hanhaz (Proto-Germanic), 'heel'
      - derived *kenk- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to feel hunger'
- compound *banca (Old English), 'bench'
  - derived *bankō (Proto-West Germanic)
    - inherited *bankô (Proto-Germanic), 'bank, embankment'

Ancestors

hoh (Old English)
*banca (Old English)

Sources

Updated August 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris