Etymograph

English

spellbind

From spell + bind.

A compound of spell + bind

Proto-Germanic *spellą ‘speech’

Proto-West Germanic *spell

Old English spell ‘news’

Middle English spell

English spell

Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ- ‘to tie’

…

Proto-Germanic *bindaną ‘to bind’

Proto-West Germanic *bindan ‘to bind’

Old English bindan ‘to bind’

Middle English bynden ‘to bind’

English bind

Today it means

verb To place under the influence of a magical spell; to enchant or bewitch with a spell.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “spellbind”. 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 / spellbind

Shirt and support for this word