Spelling.School · How to spell

How to spell bankrupt

hear itbank·rupt/'bæŋkrəpt/adjectiveHidden vowels

What it means: Financially ruined or unable to pay debts.

In a sentence: The shop had to close because it went bankrupt.

The part people get wrong

Often misspelled as bankroupt or bankropt.

Same family: bankruptcy, bankruptcies, bankrupted, insolvent, debt. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: Bankrupt comes from Italian "banca rotta," meaning "broken bench," because in medieval times a moneylender’s bench in the market was sometimes literally broken to show they could no longer do business. Over time, this image of a "broken bank" became our word for someone who cannot pay their debts.

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