*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of bind

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ-der. Proto-Germanic *bindaną Proto-West Germanic *bindan Old English bindan Middle English bynden English bind From Middle English bynden, from Old English bindan, from Proto-We

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In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
noun

That which binds or ties. · A troublesome situation; a problem; a predicament or quandary. · Any twining or climbing plant or stem, especially a hop vine; a bine. · A ligature or tie for grouping notes.

verb

To tie; to confine by any ligature. · To cohere or stick together in a mass. · To be restrained from motion, or from customary or natural action, as by friction. · To exert a binding or restraining influence.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ-der. Proto-Germanic *bindaną Proto-West Germanic *bindan Old English bindan Middle English bynden English bind From Middle English bynden, from Old English bindan, from Proto-West Germanic *bindan, from Proto-Germanic *bindaną, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰéndʰ-e-ti, from *bʰendʰ- (“to tie”). See also West Frisian bine, Dutch binden, Low German binnen, binden, German binden, Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk binde, Faroese, Icelandic, and Swedish binda; also Welsh ben (“cart”), Latin offendīx (“knot, band”), Lithuanian beñdras (“partner”), Albanian bind (“to convince, to awe, to spell”), Ancient Greek πεῖσμα (peîsma, “cable, rope”), Persian بستن (bastan, “to bind”), Sanskrit बन्धति (bándhati). Doublet of bandana.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

This page abbreviates 18 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:bynden",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ-der.\nProto-Germanic *bindaną\nProto-West Germanic *bindan\nOld English bindan\nMiddle English bynden\nEnglish bind\n[Appendix:Glossary#derived_terms|Derived]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*bʰendʰ-\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"derived\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*bindaną\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-West Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*bindan\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gmw-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"bindan\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"bynden\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"bind\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"bind\">"
    },
    {
      "name": "root",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*bʰendʰ-"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "bynden"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English bynden"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "bindan"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English bindan"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*bindan"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *bindan"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*bindaną"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *bindaną"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "",
        "4": "*bʰéndʰ-e-ti"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *bʰéndʰ-e-ti"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fy",
        "2": "bine"
      },
      "expansion": "West Frisian bine"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "binden"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch binden"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nds",
        "2": "binnen"
      },
      "expansion": "Low German binnen"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "binden"
      },
      "expansion": "German binden"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "da,nb,nn",
        "2": "binde"
      },
      "expansion": "Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk binde"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fo,is,sv",
        "2": "binda"
      },
      "expansion": "Faroese, Icelandic, and Swedish binda"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "cy",
        "2": "ben",
        "3": "",
        "4": "cart"
      },
      "expansion": "Welsh ben (“cart”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "offendīx",
        "3": "",
        "4": "knot, band"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin offendīx (“knot, band”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "lt",
        "2": "beñdras",
        "3": "",
        "4": "partner"
      },
      "expansion": "Lithuanian beñdras (“partner”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sq",
        "2": "bind",
        "3": "",
        "4": "to convince, to awe, to spell"
      },
      "expansion": "Albanian bind (“to convince, to awe, to spell”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "grc",
        "2": "πεῖσμα",
        "3": "",
        "4": "cable, rope"
      },
      "expansion": "Ancient Greek πεῖσμα (peîsma, “cable, rope”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fa",
        "2": "بستن",
        "tr": "bastan",
        "t": "to bind"
      },
      "expansion": "Persian بستن (bastan, “to bind”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sa",
        "2": "बन्धति",
        "tr": "bándhati"
      },
      "expansion": "Sanskrit बन्धति (bándhati)"
    },
    {
      "name": "doublet",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "bandana"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of bandana"
    },
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:bynden",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ-der.\nProto-Germanic *bindaną\nProto-West Germanic *bindan\nOld English bindan\nMiddle English bynden\nEnglish bind"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "*bʰendʰ-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/bʰendʰ-"
    ],
    [
      "*bindaną",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/bindaną"
    ],
    [
      "*bindan",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/bindan"
    ],
    [
      "bindan",
      "bindan#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "bynden",
      "bynden#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "bynden",
      "bynden#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "bindan",
      "bindan#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*bindan",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/bindan"
    ],
    [
      "*bindaną",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/bindaną"
    ],
    [
      "*bʰendʰ-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/bʰendʰ-"
    ],
    [
      "bine",
      "bine#West_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "binden",
      "binden#Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "binnen",
      "binnen#Low_German"
    ],
    [
      "binden",
      "binden#Low_German"
    ],
    [
      "binden",
      "binden#German"
    ],
    [
      "Danish",
      "binde#Danish"
    ],
    [
      "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "binde#Norwegian_Bokmål"
    ],
    [
      "binde",
      "binde#Norwegian_Nynorsk"
    ],
    [
      "Faroese",
      "binda#Faroese"
    ],
    [
      "Icelandic",
      "binda#Icelandic"
    ],
    [
      "binda",
      "binda#Swedish"
    ],
    [
      "ben",
      "ben#Welsh"
    ],
    [
      "offendīx",
      "offendix#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "beñdras",
      "bendras#Lithuanian"
    ],
    [
      "bind",
      "bind#Albanian"
    ],
    [
      "πεῖσμα",
      "πεῖσμα#Ancient_Greek"
    ],
    [
      "بستن",
      "بستن#Persian"
    ],
    [
      "बन्धति",
      "बन्धति#Sanskrit"
    ],
    [
      "bandana",
      "bandana#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "That which binds or ties.",
        "A troublesome situation; a problem; a predicament or quandary.",
        "Any twining or climbing plant or stem, especially a hop vine; a bine.",
        "A ligature or tie for grouping notes."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ],
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      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 30066
    },
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To tie; to confine by any ligature.",
        "To cohere or stick together in a mass.",
        "To be restrained from motion, or from customary or natural action, as by friction.",
        "To exert a binding or restraining influence."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive"
      ],
      "recordId": "c6b29d14f488e731f6650ba12ff821c613e61044d8bd1031a93bf6350315ade0",
      "rawRecordSha256": "e1a516ff3843ffec421a8fcec6bdc0efa63881fa49aae625493b18c40547c9a5",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 30065
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 18,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for bind →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-YmluZA