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Origin and history of tether

tether(n.)

late 14c., teder, tether, "rope for fastening an animal to a fixed point," not found in Old English, probably from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse tjoðr "tether," from Proto-Germanic *teudran (source also of Danish tøir, Old Swedish tiuther, Swedish tjuder, Old Frisian tiader, Middle Dutch tuder, Dutch tuier "line, rope," Old High German zeotar "pole of a cart"), from PIE root *deu- "to fasten" + instrumentive suffix *-tro-. Figurative sense of "measure of one's limitations" is attested from 1570s.

tether(v.)

mid-14c., tederen, tetheren, "confine (a grazing animal) by a tether," originally of grazing animals, from tether (n.) or from the Old Norse verb of it. Figurative use, "fasten or bind by conditions, circumstances, etc." also from late 14c. Related: Tethered.

also from mid-14c.

Entries linking to tether

tetherball(n.)

also tether-ball, "ball fastened to a rope or string suspended from a pole," 1900, from tether (n.) + ball (n.1).

untether(v.)

"release from a tether," 1775, from un- (2) "reverse, opposite of" + tether (v.). Related: Untethered; untethering.

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    leash
    c. 1300, "thong for holding a dog or hound," from Old French lesse, laisse "hound's leash," ultimately from Latin laxus "loose" (see lax), perhaps via noun use of fem. form laxa. The notion seems to be of a string loosely held. Figurative sense attested from early 15c. The meanin
    lead
    "to guide," Old English lædan (transitive) "cause to go with oneself; march at the head of, go before as a guide, accompany and show the way; carry on; sprout forth, bring forth; pass (one's life)," causative of liðan "to travel," from Proto-Germanic *laidjanan (source also of Ol
    liable
    mid-15c., "bound or obliged by law," from Old French lier, liier "to bind, tie up, fasten, tether; bind by obligation" (12c...
    pastern
    obsolete; the meaning was extended by 1520s to the part of the horse's leg between the fetlock and the hoof, to which the tether...
    rein
    Compare Latin retinaculum "a tether, halter, rein."...
    stake
    early 13c., staken, "fasten to a stake, tether," from stake (n.1). Also "to impale" (c. 1400)....
    attach
    mid-14c. (mid-13c. in Anglo-Latin), "to take or seize (property or goods) by law," a legal term, from Old French atachier "fasten; arrest" (11c.), earlier estachier "to attach, fix; stake up, support" (Modern French attacher, also compare Italian attaccare), from a- "to" (see ad-
    dale
    level or gently sloping ground between low hills with a stream flowing through it, Old English dæl "vale, valley, gorge," from Proto-Germanic *dalaz "valley" (source also of Old Saxon, Dutch, Gothic dal, Old Norse dalr, Old High German tal, German Tal "valley"), perhaps from PIE
    deal
    "a part or portion," Middle English del, from from Old English dæl "a part of a whole, a share;" with qualification (great, etc.), "an extent, degree, quantity, amount," from Proto-Germanic *dailaz (source also of Old Norse deild, Old Frisian del "part; juridical district," Dutch

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