Language question for the French:
Quite early, English borrowed the French word bloc when the word block entered English to mean a block of wood or later a city block. But centuries later, bloc was borrowed from French again to form the English word bloc as in The Western Bloc — meaning a group of politically aligned countries.
So I wonder how this works in French. Can bloc both be used to describe a block of wood and a group such as The Western Bloc or the European trade bloc?
In the Canadian francophone context, the federal political party that focusses on the interests of Quebec (the party is arguably sovereignist but, in the meantime, willing to work within the reality of Quebec's status in Canada) is the "Bloc Québécois".
@randahl "bloc" in French also refers to "blocade/blocus" ("bloquer" meaning "to block"). So I'd say the French word "bloc" has the same range of meanings that its English counterpart
@randahl and the banc or banque or Bank where people sat to exchange their money...
@randahl Trivia: most people in France did not speak French until 1794. Before that, regional languages reigned.
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