Gluing

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The practice of adhering materials together by applying a viscous substance to form a strong bond
2. The technique of attaching two entities using an adhesive to ensure a firm connection
3. The method of bonding surfaces by spreading a sticky substance that holds them securely

Etymology: Glue has a surprising ancestor in Latin "glūten", which meant the sticky substance that binds things, and it is closely related to "clay", a link that hints at how early adhesives were made from natural materials. The word passed through Late Latin "glūs" and Old French "glu", meaning both glue and birdlime, the sticky sap smeared on branches to trap birds, before arriving in Middle English as "glew" and "glue". English once had its own words for the same thing. Old English "līm" meant glue, and "ġelīman" meant to glue, but the French-derived term gradually displaced them. The older word survives in modern "lime", which now refers to something else entirely, the mineral compound, though the two words are not connected in meaning beyond that old history of sticking. "Gluing" is simply the verb form of glue, describing the act of fastening things together with it.

Synonyms: adhesion, bonding, joining, sticking, fastening

Antonyms: separation, disconnecting, detachment, unfastening, breaking