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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
Ganesh Rao, CNBC, 28 July 2025
In July, both Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire sought to issue five-year regional bonds; Abidjan’s was fully subscribed, but Senegal withdrew its tranche, an unmistakable sign that the issuer judged the rates asked too high.
—Joël Té-Léssia Assoko, semafor.com, 25 July 2025
Only one tranche of documents had been made public by the time the DOJ issued its memo last week, however—and those materials were largely already publicly available—and the announcement that no further files would be released sparked an outcry on the right and calls for Bondi to resign.
—Alison Durkee, Forbes.com, 18 July 2025
Unfortunately, the new tranche of economic pressure doesn’t quite seem ready.
—Daniel Fried, Time, 15 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for tranche
Cite this Entry
“Tranche.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tranche. Accessed 3 Aug. 2025.
Copy CitationLegal Definition
tranche
nounFrench, literally, slice, from Old French, from trenchier, trancher to cut
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