today's etymology lesson

"Other devices were also utilized to circumvent the Church's usury laws, the simplest perhaps being the adoption of a variety of euphemisms for the word "interest": prode (yield), guadaguo (gain), and merito (reward) . . . but still there were times when money had to be obtained quickly and with minimum social and political constraints. To satisfy this need, Jews, not being bound by the Church law, were allowed to be money lenders . . . Jews were limited by discriminatory laws to certain professions and money lending provided an opportunity for lucrative gains . . .The Jewish community of Venice was limited to one section of the city . . . and its money lenders became famous. It is with these money lenders and their benches, banco, or tables, travolo, of business, that the origins of modern banking began. When a money lender was found to be cheating he was publicly disgraced and put out of busienss by having his bench broken, banco ruptus; today we would say he went bankrupt.

Frank J. Swetz, Capitalism & Arithmetic: The New Math of the 15th Century