bench, benche, benk

& a. [A.S. benc = a bench, a table; banc = a bench, bank, or hillock; O. Sax. bank, benki; Sw. bänk; Dan. bænk; O. Icel. bekkr; Dut., Ger., & Wel. bank; O. Fries., O. L. Ger., & Corn. benk; Ir. binse; Gael. binnse; Fr. banc; Sp. & Port. banco; Ital. panca = a bench or stool. Bench and Bank were originally the same word.] [BANK.] A. As substantive: I. Ordinary Language: 1. Of things: (a) Gen. A long seat made of wood or other material. It differs from a stool in its greater length. "Indeed, if the lecture-room could hold 2,000 instead of 600 I do not doubt that every one of its benches would be occupied on these occasions."-Tyndall: Frag. of Science (3rd ed.), iv. 7L (b) Spec.: In the same sense as II. 1 ( a ). 2. Of persons: In the same sense as II. 1 (6). IL Technically: 1. Law : (a) The seat which judges or magistrates occupy officially in a court of justice. (b) The judges or magistrates sitting together to try cases. * The Court of King's Bench (named when a female sovereign is on the throne The Court of Queen's Bench): What formerly was one of the three chief courts in England. It grew up rather than was created in the early Norman times. The judicial busine of the Great Council of the nation coming to be transacted in the king's palace, the court which attended to it was called that of the Aula Regis , viz., of the king's palace. It gradually separated i..to three-the Courts of King's Bench, of Common Pleas, and of the Exchequer. The first of these exercised control over the inferior courts, and took special cognizance of trespa es against the king's peace. [See AC ETIAM.] From its very outset it was a Court of Record. Its separate existence was abolished by the Judicature Act of 1873, and now it is the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court of Judicature. "... became Chief Justice of the King's Bench ."Macaulay: Hist . Eng . , ch. xi. 2. Carp., Joinery, .: A support for tools and work in various mechanical operations, as carpentry, metal and leather work, . 3. Engineering: A horizontal ledge on the side of a cutting; an embankment or parapet, a berme, a banquette. B. As adj.: In anything pertaining or relating to a bench.