English
ligament
Ligament comes from Latin ligāmentum, from ligō ‘tie, bind’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leyǵ-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leyǵ-1‘to bind’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEligō2‘tie, bind’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEligāmentum2
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ligament2‘a ligament or similar connecting tissue’
- Englishearliest quotation 1795ligament2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin ligo
- 2 Wiktionary, English ligament
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1795, Alexander Hamilton, The Defence of the Funding System: “It remains to mention one consideration which naturally occurred…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leyǵ-Wiktionary, Latin ligo‘to bind’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEligōWiktionary, English ligament‘tie, bind’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEligāmentumWiktionary, English ligament
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ligamentWiktionary, English ligament‘a ligament or similar connecting tissue’
- Englishearliest quotation 1795ligamentWiktionary, English ligament. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1795, Alexander Hamilton, The Defence of the Funding System: “It remains to mention one consideration which naturally occurred…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *leyǵ- ‘to bind’
through Latin ligō ‘tie, bind’
league, religious, religion, ally, liable, alloy, liaison, lien, ligand, religiosity, liaise, ligature, legato, obligate, ligation, 13 more
Today it means
noun A band of strong tissue that connects bones to other bones.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “ligament”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin ligo. 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 *leyǵ- / ligament