banality

Noun

banality (countable and uncountable, plural banalities)

1. (uncountable) The quality of being banal.
   • The concept of the banality of evil came into prominence following the publication of Hannah Arendt's 1963 book Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, which was based on the trial of Adolph Eichmann in Jerusalem.1997, Edward S. Herman, Triumph of the Market: Essays on Economics, Politics, and the Media, Black Rose Books Ltd., →ISBN, page 97

   Synonyms:

   bathos

2. (countable) Something which is banal.
3. (historical, rare) A feudal right or obligation, especially the obligation for a peasant to grind grain at the lord's mill, or the profits accruing from such rights.
   • The law of banality, one of the most oppressive products of feudalism, was revived for the advantage of the nobility.1892, William Klapp Williams, The Dawn of Italian Independence: Italy from the Congress of Vienna, 1814, to the Fall of Venice, 1849, volume 1, page 176
   • Other banalities included the lord's exclusive right to hunt over the land, his monopoly over fishing, and his right to keep the dove-cote whose feathery occupants ate a peasant's standing crops.1984, Sheldon J. Watts, A Social History of Western Europe, 1450–1720: Tensions and Solidarities among Rural People, page 106