banca
/ˈbanka/ · B2 · noun · f
bench
🪑🏦 banca = banco (bench) + feminine -a: the bench where money-changers sat
Italian money-changers did business at benches, so the word for bench became the word for banking. The same root gives English bank and bankrupt (broken bench). A seat in a council is also a bench, so banca covers a legislative seat too.