Bind

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /baɪnd/

Definitions

1. To tie or fasten something securely, or to unite things together so they form a single unit
2. To secure objects together through physical means or to establish a connection that integrates or unifies separate entities
3. To attach items firmly with ropes or similar materials, or to link components into a cohesive whole

Etymology: The verb "bind" has a surprisingly tangled cousin: it is a doublet of "bandana", the two words descending from the same ancient root but reaching English by different routes. The root, reconstructed as something like "bʰendʰ-, meant "to tie," and it spread across the Indo-European languages, giving Sanskrit "bándhati," Persian "bastan," and Ancient Greek "peîsma," meaning "cable" or "rope." In Germanic, the root became "bindaną, which passed into Old English as "bindan" and then Middle English as "bynden." Its close relatives are everywhere in the northern European languages, from Dutch "binden" and German "binden" to Swedish "binda," all carrying the same basic sense of fastening something tight. "Bandana," by contrast, came into English from Hindi and Urdu, where a related word describes a dyeing technique that ties off parts of cloth before dipping it, creating the patterned fabric now familiar as a bandana. Both words thus trace back to one act of tying.

Synonyms: tie, fasten, attach, secure, connect

Antonyms: loosen, unbind, detach, release, free