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Origin and history of binding

binding(n.)

mid-13c., "act or action of securing, uniting, etc.," verbal noun from bind (v.). The meaning "thing that binds" is from c. 1300; that of "state of being bound" is from late 14c. The sense of "covering of a book" is recorded from 1640s.

binding(adj.)

late 14c., "serving to bind," past-participle adjective from bind (v.). The meaning "having power to bind" is from 1610s.

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to binding

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.

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    cover
    mid-12c., "protect or defend from harm," from Old French covrir "to cover, protect, conceal, dissemble" (12c., Modern French couvrir), from Late Latin coperire, from Latin cooperire "to cover over, overwhelm, bury," from assimilated form of com-, here perhaps an intensive prefix
    back
    Old English bæc "back," from Proto-Germanic *bakam (cognates: Old Saxon and Middle Dutch bak, Old Frisian bek), with no known connections outside Germanic. In other modern Germanic languages the cognates mostly have been ousted in this sense by words akin to Modern English ridge
    dressing
    mid-14c., "rule, control," verbal noun from dress (v.). In some Middle English uses also short for addressing. In cookery, "sauce used in preparing a dish for the table," from c. 1500. Meaning "bandage applied to a wound or sore" is by 1713. Dressing-gown "a loose and easy robe w
    obligation
    c. 1300, obligacioun, "a binding pledge, commitment to fulfill a promise or meet conditions of a bargain," from Old French...responsibility" (early 13c.) and directly from Latin obligationem (nominative obligatio) "an engaging or pledging," literally "a binding...The notion is of binding with promises or by law or duty....
    liaison
    1640s, originally in English as a cookery term for a thickening agent for sauces, from French liaison "a union, a binding...together" (13c.), from Late Latin ligationem (nominative ligatio) "a binding," from past participle stem of Latin ligare...
    bond
    From early 14c. as "an agreement or covenant;" from late 14c. as "a binding or uniting power or influence."...The legalistic sense of "an instrument binding one to pay a sum to another" is recorded by 1590s....
    constriction
    constricting; state of being constricted," c. 1400, constriccioun, from Latin constrictionem (nominative constrictio) "a binding...
    pledge
    mid-14c., plegge, "surety, bail," from Old French plege (Modern French pleige) "hostage, security, bail," also Anglo-Latin plegium, both probably from Frankish *plegan "to guarantee," from *pleg-, a West Germanic root meaning "have responsibility for" (source also of Old Saxon pl
    loop
    late 14c., "a fold or doubling of cloth, rope, leather, cord, etc.," of uncertain origin. OED favors a Celtic origin (compare Gaelic lub "bend," Irish lubiam), which in English was perhaps influenced by or blended with Old Norse hlaup "a leap, run" (see leap (v.)). As a feature o
    polo
    ball game of eastern origin resembling field hockey played on horseback, 1872, Anglo-Indian polo, from Balti (Tibetan language of the Indus valley) polo "ball," related to Tibetan pulu "ball." An ancient game in south Asia, first played in England at Aldershot, 1871. Water polo i

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