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Added 7 October 2026

bind

/ˈbaɪ̯nd/ verb

In Latin: ligō, vinciō Wiktionary

verb Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about bind at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

To tie; to confine by any ligature.
To cohere or stick together in a mass.
We’ll throw it in just to make the cheese more binding.
To be restrained from motion, or from customary or natural action, as by friction.
I wish I knew why the sewing machine binds up after I use it for a while.

noun

That which binds or ties.
A troublesome situation; a problem; a predicament or quandary.
Any twining or climbing plant or stem, especially a hop vine; a bine.

Origin

From Middle English binden, from Old English bindan, from Proto-West Germanic *bindan, from Proto-Germanic *bindaną, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰéndʰ-e-ti, from *bʰendʰ- (“to tie”). See also West Frisian bine, Dutch binden, Low German binnen, binden, German binden, Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk binde, Faroese, Icelandic, and Swedish binda; also Welsh ben (“cart”), Latin offendīx (“knot, band”), Lithuanian beñdras (“partner”), Albanian bind (“to convince, to awe, to spell”), Ancient Greek πεῖσμα (peîsma, “cable, rope”), Persian بستن (bastan, “to bind”), Sanskrit बन्धति (bándhati). Doublet of bandana.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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