banality

The word 'banality' entered English in the mid-18th century from the French 'banalité', which itself derived from the Old French 'banal', meaning "pertaining to compulsory feudal service" and thus "common to all, commonplace." The French term traces back to 'ban', a proclamation or edict of a feudal lord, from a Germanic source (Frankish ban or Old High German 'ban'), meaning "command" or "proclamation." The semantic journey is from a lord's command (applying to all) to something subject to communal obligation, then to something commonplace and lacking originality. The suffix '-ity', of Latin origin via French, forms abstract nouns indicating a state or condition, solidifying the meaning as "the state of being commonplace."

The word 'banality' is a simplex noun formed from the adjective 'banal' with the addition of the noun-forming suffix '-ity'. The root 'banal' is a loanword from French.