Bunker
/ˈbʌŋ.kər/noun
A heavily built shelter or fortified room designed to protect people or equipment from attack.
Did you know?The word first meant a bench or seat in Scots, then a partitioned storage chest, and only later became the concrete war shelter we know today.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*bankiz
“a bench, seat, or raised platform”
Old English
OE
benc
“a bench or seat”
Middle Scots
Scots
bunker
“a bench; later, a storage chest or bin with compartments”
18th Century
English
bunker
“a storage bin, especially for coal”
19th–20th Century
English
bunker
“a fortified shelter, especially in military use”
Explore more surprising origins