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Finance and Tranche
In French, tranche means "slice." Cutting deeper into the word's etymology, we find the Old French word trancer, meaning "to cut." Tranche emerged in the English language in the late 19th century to describe financial appropriations. Today, it is often used specifically of an issue of bonds that is differentiated from other issues by such factors as maturity or rate of return. Another use of the French word tranche is in the French phrase une tranche de vie, meaning "a cross section of life." That phrase was coined by the dramatist Jean Jullien (1854-1919), who advocated naturalism in the theater.
Examples of tranche in a Sentence
Kara Fox, CNN Money, 31 Jan. 2026
Blanche said the tranche, which follows the passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act (EFTA), would include 2,000 videos and 180,000 images related to the Epstein case.
—Luke Barr, ABC News, 30 Jan. 2026
The new tranche — known as Data Set 12 — includes just over 150 documents, most of which are a few pages long.
—Stefan Becket, CBS News, 30 Jan. 2026
In the upper chamber, Democrats are demanding changes to the DHS’s operations in exchange for their votes to pass a tranche of government funding bills ahead of the Friday deadline.
—Lauren Green, The Washington Examiner, 27 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for tranche
Cite this Entry
“Tranche.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tranche. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLegal Definition
tranche
nounFrench, literally, slice, from Old French, from trenchier, trancher to cut
