What does banked mean?
'Banked' is the simple past and past participle of the verb 'bank', a remarkably versatile English verb whose senses span finance, aviation, and everyday description. In its most familiar use, it means having deposited money in a bank or having processed a cheque for payment. In aviation, a plane is said to have banked when it has tilted sideways while turning, one wing dipping toward the earth. More broadly, things can be banked when they pile up or are gathered into a mass: clouds may be banked along a horizon, snow banked against a wall, or a fire banked with ash so its embers smoulder slowly overnight. The word also appears in engineering contexts, where a curve in a road or racetrack is said to be banked when its surface slopes inward. Derived from the same root as 'bench' via medieval Italian banking tables, 'banked' carries connotations ranging from prudence and security to controlled motion and quiet reserve, making it useful across registers from casual speech to technical writing.
verb (past participle and simple past of bank)Banked is the simple past and past participle of the verb 'bank', meaning to have deposited money in a bank, to have tilted or inclined something (especially an aircraft), or to have piled up or formed into a mass such as clouds or snow.
- Deposited money in a bank or cashed/processed a payment.
- Tilted or inclined sideways, especially of an aircraft turning.
- Piled up or formed into a mound or mass (e.g. clouds banked on the horizon; a fire banked with ash).
- (Of a road or track) built with an inward slope around a curve.
"The pilot banked sharply to the left as we turned over the coastline."
"She banked her first pay cheque the day she turned sixteen."
"Low clouds had banked against the mountains by late afternoon."
The word 'bank' comes from the Italian 'banca' — literally the moneylender's bench, which was famously smashed if he went bust.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of banked
The underlying verb 'bank' derives from Middle English 'banke', meaning a ridge or mound, which itself traces back to Old Norse 'bakki'. A separate but related lineage runs through the financial sense: Italian 'banca' (the moneychanger's bench) gave rise to the modern banking vocabulary, and both strands ultimately relate to the notion of a raised surface or platform. Cognates include the German 'Bank' and French 'banc'.
Related word forms
How banked is actually used
Banked is chiefly used as a past form rather than a standalone adjective, though phrases like 'a banked fire' or 'banked turn' are common enough that it functions adjectivally in context. The aviation sense is standard technical usage; the sense relating to fires (covering coals with ash to keep them burning slowly) is somewhat traditional and increasingly rare.
Easily confused with banked
Embanked specifically means having been enclosed or protected by an embankment, whereas banked has broader meanings including depositing money or tilting an aircraft.