Nope, it’s a French loan word. In English and French, a bloc is a political group. The original French meaning was a block, like a block of wood or cheese, and that meaning is still used, but came to also mean political group or alliance at some point. When it was imported into English, we only kept the political meaning since we already had block.
Btw, it’s Eastern Bloc, not block. I’m sure autocorrect is to blame, but it seems like neat trivia regardless.
Why is that? Does it come from a Russian word translation? Does it mean something different?
Nope, it’s a French loan word. In English and French, a bloc is a political group. The original French meaning was a block, like a block of wood or cheese, and that meaning is still used, but came to also mean political group or alliance at some point. When it was imported into English, we only kept the political meaning since we already had block.
That’s the useless, but interesting answer I was looking for. Thanks.
https://www.etymonline.com/word/bloc
Like all quirks of English the French are to blame.