banality

English

Etymology

From French banalité, from banal.

Pronunciation

• enPR: bənăl'ĭti, IPA^(key): /bəˈnælɨti/
• Rhymes: -ælɨti
• enPR: bānăl'ĭti, IPA^(key): /beɪˈnælɨti/
• Rhymes: -ælɨti

Noun

banality (countable and uncountable, plural banalities)

1. (uncountable) The quality of being banal.

   Synonym: (partial) bathos

   • 1997, Edward S. Herman, Triumph of the Market: Essays on Economics, Politics, and the Media, Black Rose Books Ltd. (→ISBN), page 97:

     The concept of the banality of evil came into prominence following the publication of Hannah Arendt's 1963 book Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, which was based on the trial of Adolph Eichmann in Jerusalem.

2. (countable) Something which is banal.

Related terms

• banal

Translations

quality of being banal

• Bulgarian: бана́лност (bg) f (banálnost)
• Catalan: banalitat f
• Esperanto: banaleco
• Finnish: banaalius (fi)
• German: Banalität (de) f
• Interlingue:
• Italian: banalità (it) f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Kyrgyz: тамтыгы чыккандык (ky) f (tamtıgı cıkkandık)
• Latvian: banāls
• Persian: بی‌مزگی
• Polish: banalność (pl) f
• Russian: бана́льность (ru) f (banálʹnostʹ)
• Spanish: banalidad f

something which is banal

• Bulgarian: бана́лност (bg) f (banálnost)
• Catalan: banalitat f
• Czech: banalita (cs) f
• Finnish: banaliteetti
• German: Banalität (de) f
• Hungarian: közhely (hu)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Interlingue:
• Italian: banalità (it)
• Polish: banał (pl) m
• Russian: бана́льность (ru) f (banálʹnostʹ)
• Spanish: banalidad f

Further reading

• “banality”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “banality”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.