What does "bankrupt" mean?

The word “bankrupt” comes from the Italian banca rotta, meaning “broken bench.” In Italy, money dealers worked from benches or tables. If a money dealer ran out of money, his bench or table was broken in half and he was out of business. The word had its French equivalent, banqueroute, and subsequently made its way into the English language as both a figure of speech and a literal definition of what happened to the affected person.