Etymologically
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bandage

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈbæn.dɪd͡ʒ/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French bandage,[2][3][4] recorded in French from the 16th century,[5] formed from bande (“band, strip”) and the suffix -age.[6][3][7][8] Barnhart and Etymonline derive it from Old French bander (“to bind”), from bande (“a strip”),[2][5] the source of band in the sense of a strip.[6][2][9] Klein traces the French noun through bende and Medieval Latin benda (“band”) to a Germanic source related to the English word,[10] and Etymonline traces the Old French noun to Proto-Germanic *bindaną, from Proto-Indo-European *bhendh- (“to bind”).[5] The OED notes that it was originally a term of surgery.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A strip of woven material used to bind up a wound, sore or broken limb: 1599, in a translation of Gaebelkhover's Boock of Physicke.[6][2][3]

Semantic evolution

From surgery the word spread to any strip of flexible material used to bind or cover, especially a blindfold (1715),[6] and Johnson (1755) defined it as "something bound over another", quoting Addison's figure of Zeal with a bandage over her eyes.[11] It was also used of a band strengthening a structure (1766, now archaic) and of a wrap for a horse's legs (1828).[6] The dates of the verb differ widely: the OED records it from 1642,[6] Merriam-Webster from 1730,[3] Etymonline from 1734, implied in bandaging,[5] and Barnhart from 1774, in Goldsmith's History of the Earth and Animated Nature.[2]

Timeline

  • 1599 – a strip used to bind up a wound, in surgery.[6][2][3]
  • 1642 – verb, to bind up with a bandage.[6] Merriam-Webster dates the verb to 1730, Etymonline to 1734 and Barnhart to 1774.[3][5][2]
  • 1715 – a strip for binding or covering, especially a blindfold.[6]
  • 1766 – a band that strengthens a structure (archaic).[6]
  • 1828 – a wrap for a horse's legs.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A strip of gauze or other material used to cover a wound, hold a dressing in place or support an injured part: The nurse wound a bandage round his sprained wrist.[12][3][6]
  2. A strip of soft material used for binding or covering, such as a blindfold.[12][6]

Verb

  1. To bind, cover or dress with a bandage: She bandaged the puppy's paw.[12][3][6]

Word family

  • bandager
  • rebandage
  • unbandage
  • adhesive bandage

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  5. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  10. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  12. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins