Meaning

noun a long seat for more than one person

noun a level shelf of land interrupting a declivity (with steep slopes above and below)

noun persons who administer justice

originFrom Middle English bench, benk, bynk, from Old English benċ (“bench”), from Proto-West Germanic *banki, from Proto-Germanic *bankiz (“bench”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeg-. Cognate with Scots benk, bink (“bench”), West Frisian bank (“bench”), Dutch bank (“bench”), German Bank (“bench”), Danish bænk (“bench”), Swedish bänk (“bench”), Icelandic bekkur (“bench”). Doublet of banc, banco, and bank.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0