A Benchmark Was a Surveyor's Notch
A bench is a long seat. The word gives English the judge's bench and the benchmark, which began as a mark cut into stone by surveyors.
A bench is a long seat, and by extension a working surface or a judicial office. *Benchmark* is the most productive of its descendants and the most literal: surveyors cut a horizontal notch into stone as a reference point, then rested an angle-iron bracket — a bench — in it to mount a levelling staff at exactly the same height each time. The mark was the fixed standard, which is what a benchmark still means.
- A long seat. *A park bench.*
- A work surface. *A carpenter's bench.*
- The judges collectively. *A ruling from the bench.*
- The substitutes in sport. *He was on the bench.*
- Benchmark — a standard of comparison. *An industry benchmark.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | bench | A wooden bench. |
| Plural | benches | Front benches. |
| Verb | bench | He was benched. |
| Compound | benchmark | A useful benchmark. |
| Related | banquette | A padded banquette. |
- They sat on a bench by the pond.Seating.
- The bench dismissed the appeal.Judiciary.
- The results set a new benchmark.Standard.
Bench in different fields
- Law — the bench means the judges, as opposed to the bar
- Parliament — front bench and back bench mark seniority
- Sport — the bench holds substitutes; to be benched is to be dropped
- Science — bench work means practical laboratory work
- Surveying — a benchmark is a fixed reference point of known height
Old English *benc*, from a Proto-Germanic root also behind *bank*. The surveying sense of *benchmark* dates from the 1830s and the figurative one from the twentieth century.
Where does benchmark come from?
From surveying. A notch cut in stone held a bracket that supported a levelling staff at a repeatable height, giving a fixed reference.
Why are judges called the bench?
Because they sat on a bench in court. The bar, by contrast, was the barrier where advocates stood.