The origin of words: BOND

Bond dates back to the early 13th century. The noun, meaning ‘something that binds, fastens or confines.’ It originated as a phonetic variant of band, and was originally interchangeable with that noun. It preserved the sense of ‘restraining or uniting force,’ which band slowly lost, as well as a close connection to the verb bind and adjective bound. Bond (and band) can be traced back to the Proto-Germanic verb bindan and the Proto-Indo-European root bhendh– (both meaning ‘to bind’). The sense ‘agreement or covenant’ appeared in the early 14th century, while ‘a binding or uniting power’ dates back to the late 14th century. The legal sense, ‘an instrument promising payment from one party to another’ first appeared in the late 16th century. The verb comes from the noun and, meaning ‘to put in a bond,’ dates back to the mid-17th century. The meaning ‘hold together’ dates back to the mid-19th century when talking about things, and extended to people in the mid-20th century. The adjective bond, now rare, dates back to around the year 1300. It meant ‘to be unfree, or in a state of servitude,’ and comes from an obsolete Middle English noun, bond (not related to the noun we use today), which meant ‘a tenant or farmer holding land in service for a lord.’ The Middle English noun may have come from the Old English bonda or bunda (a husbandman or householder), from the Old Norse bonda, boande or buande (husbandman, peasant, or tiller of soil,’ or from a combination of both. It can be traced back to the Proto-Indo-European root bheue– (to be, exist or grow).