Etymology

balcony

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Today it means: An accessible structure extending from a building, especially outside a window. Full definition →

Italian balcone ← Medieval Latin balcō ← Frankish *balkō
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The story

  1. Proto-Germanic*balkô
  2. Frankish*balkō
  3. Medieval Latinbalcō
  4. Italianbalcone
  5. English todaybalcony

From Italian balcone (“balcony, floor-length window”), from Old Italian balcone (“scaffold”) from Lombardic *balk, *balko (“beam”), from Proto-Germanic *balkô (“beam”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰelǵ- (“beam, pile, prop”). Akin to Old High German balco, balcho (“beam”), Old English balca (“beam, ridge”). More at balk.

Words from the same roots

Proto-Germanic*balkô all →

balkdebauch

Proto-Indo-European*bʰelǵ- all →

blockbulkdebauchfalanghina

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.