bloc (English)

Where does "bloc" come from?

The English noun 'bloc', meaning an alliance of countries or a group with common political goals, was borrowed from French 'bloc'[1]. The French term originally meant a log or block[2]. This word traces back through Old Dutch, Frankish, and Proto-West Germanic forms like '*blokk' to the Proto-Germanic '*blukką', which meant 'beam' or 'log'[1]. Ultimately, this Germanic root connects to the Proto-Indo-European base '*bʰelǵʰ-', meaning 'to balk, beam' or 'to swell'[3].

Open questions

The Proto-Germanic form '*blukką' is presumed to be metathesized from an earlier form '*bulkną'. [3]

Full etymology tree

bloc (English), 'A group of voters or politicians who share common goals.'
- borrowed bloc (French), 'a block (e.g., of wood)'
  - inherited bloc (Middle French)
    - inherited bloc (Old French)
      - borrowed blok (Middle Dutch)
        inherited *blok (Old Dutch)
        inherited *blokk (Proto-West Germanic), 'block, log'
        derived *blukką (Proto-Germanic), 'block, log'
        derived *blukną (Proto-Germanic)
        derived *bulkną (Proto-Germanic)
        derived *bʰl̥ǵʰ-no- (pre-Germanic)
        derived *bʰelǵʰ- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to swell'

Ancestors

bloc (French)
*blokk (Proto-West Germanic)
*blukką (Proto-Germanic)

Cognates and doublets

block (English)

Descendants and derived words

antibloc (English)
Atlantic bloc (English)
black bloc (English)
bloc party (English)
blocwide (English)
Eastern Bloc (English)
interbloc (English)
intrabloc (English)
nonbloc (English)
padded bloc (English)
Soviet Bloc (English)
superbloc (English)

Sources

Updated October 2026

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