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Origin and history of bind

bind(v.)

Old English bindan "to tie up with bonds" (literally and figuratively), also "to make captive; to cover with dressings and bandages" (class III strong verb; past tense band, past participle bunden), from Proto-Germanic *bindanan (source also of Old Saxon bindan, Old Norse and Old Frisian binda, Old High German binten "to bind," German binden, Gothic bindan), from PIE root *bhendh- "to bind." Of books, from c. 1400. Intransitive sense of "stick together, cohere" is from 1670s.

bind(n.)

"anything that binds," in various senses, late Old English, from bind (v.). The meaning "tight or awkward situation" is from 1851.

Entries linking to bind

bastard(n.)

"illegitimate child," early 13c., from Old French bastard "acknowledged child of a nobleman by a woman other than his wife" (11c., Modern French bâtard), probably from fils de bast "packsaddle son," meaning a child conceived on an improvised bed (saddles often doubled as beds while traveling), with pejorative ending -art (see -ard).

Compare German bänkling "bastard; child begotten on a bench" (and not in a marriage bed), the source of English bantling (1590s) "brat, small child." Bastard was not always regarded as a stigma; the Conqueror is referred to in state documents as "William the Bastard."

According to OED online: "The most plausible suggestion is that the ulterior etymon is either an unattested variant (without rounding of the vowel) of Old Frisian bōst ‘morganatic marriage’, or an unattested Old Saxon cognate of that word, both (with loss of nasal and compensatory lengthening) < the Indo-European base of bind v."

The figurative sense of "thing not pure or genuine" is by late 14c. Its use as a generic vulgar term of abuse for a man is attested from 1830. Among the "bastard" words in Halliwell-Phillipps' "Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words" are avetrol, chance-bairn, by-blow, harecoppe, horcop, and gimbo ("a bastard's bastard").

As an adjective from late 14c. It is used of things spurious or not genuine, having the appearance of being genuine, of abnormal or irregular shape or size, and of mongrels or mixed breeds.

bend(v.)

Old English bendan "to bend a bow, bring into a curved state; confine with a string, fetter," causative of bindan "to bind," from Proto-Germanic base *band- "string, band" (source also of Old Norse benda "to join, strain, strive, bend"), from PIE root *bhendh- "to bind."

The meaning "curve or make crooked" (early 14c.) is via the notion of bending a bow to string it. The intransitive sense of "become curved or crooked" is from late 14c., that of "incline, turn from the straight line" is from 1510s. The figurative meaning "bow, be submissive" is from c. 1400. Cognate with band, bind, bond, and Bund. Related: Bended; bent; bending.