Word of the Day

: March 15, 2026

tranche

noun TRAHNSH

What It Means

Tranche refers to a division or portion of a whole.

// A tranche of leaked documents was delivered to the newspaper anonymously, with more promised to come.

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tranche in Context

“Congress approved an initial tranche of funding legislation in November as the longest shutdown in history came to an end.” — Kaia Hubbard, CBS News, 16 Dec. 2025

Did You Know?

In French, tranche means “slice.” Cutting deeper into the word’s etymology, we find the Old French word trenchier, meaning “to cut,” which has its likely origin in a Latin word meaning “to cut in three,” from Latin trini meaning “three each.” Tranche emerged in the English language in the late 19th century to refer to a division or portion of a larger pool or whole, and later developed a finance-specific meaning referring to an offering for sale of typically a set of bonds “cut” from a larger group of bonds, the tranche being differentiated by such factors as maturity or rate of return.