English
bind
Bind comes from Old English bindan ‘to bind’, from Proto-Germanic *bindaną ‘to bind’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ- ‘to tie’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰendʰ-1‘to tie’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰéndʰeti1reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bindaną1‘to bind’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*bindan1‘to bind’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150bindan1‘to bind’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bynden1‘to bind’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1596bind1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English bind
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1596, William Shakespeare, The Life and Death of King Iohn: “I am much bounden to your Maieſty.”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰendʰ-Wiktionary, English bind‘to tie’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰéndʰetiWiktionary, English bindreconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bindanąWiktionary, English bind‘to bind’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*bindanWiktionary, English bind‘to bind’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150bindanWiktionary, English bind‘to bind’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500byndenWiktionary, English bind‘to bind’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1596bindWiktionary, English bind. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1596, William Shakespeare, The Life and Death of King Iohn: “I am much bounden to your Maieſty.”
Word family
English words that share an ancestor with bind, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ- ‘to tie’
through Proto-Germanic *bindaną ‘to bind, to tie’
- bend ← benden ← bendan ← *bandijan ← *bandijaną
25 more relatives in the full family tree
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Today it means
verb To tie; to confine by any ligature.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “bind”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ- / bind