'banlieue' originates from French, specifically from a compound of Old French 'ban' + 'lieu', where 'ban' meant 'a proclamation, authority, or jurisdiction' (from Old Frankish *ban) and 'lieu' meant 'place' or 'area' (from Latin 'locus' via Old French).

'banlieue' changed from the Old French compound meaning 'area under a ban/jurisdiction' (often written effectively as 'ban lieu') and eventually became the modern French word 'banlieue'; the term was later borrowed into English in the 19th century with the sense 'suburb'.

Initially, it meant 'the area subject to a lord's or town's ban/jurisdiction', but over time it evolved into its current primary meaning of 'suburb' and, in many contexts (especially in contemporary social commentary), acquired the specialized sense 'socially or economically deprived suburb'.