bound

English bound has four separate sources: the past participle of bind, an Old Norse word for “ready”, an Old French word for a boundary, and a French verb meaning “to leap”.^[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

• IPA: /baʊnd/^[4]

bound¹ tied

Etymology

It is a shortening of bounden, the past participle of bind.^[1][2][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Obliged or compelled: the mid-14th century in Etymonline, in the fuller form bounden from about 1300.^[5] Barnhart dates bound before 1449 and bounde probably before 1300.^[1]

Semantic evolution

Under obligation is from the late 15th century,^[5] and the literal sense, made fast by tying, is from 1552 in the OED, the 1550s in Etymonline.^[7][5] In grammar, of an element that occurs only together with others, it is from 1926.^[5] It forms compounds such as storm-bound (1830).^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – bounden, obliged.^[5]
• 1382 – kept fast in prison.^[7]
• 1552 – tied, fastened.^[7]
• 1926 – grammar, a bound form.^[5]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Tied or fastened with a rope or chain.
2. Certain to do something: bound to happen.
3. Obliged by duty or law to do something.
4. Of a book, having a cover.

bound² heading for

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English boun (“ready”),^[5][6] borrowed from Old Norse búinn, the past participle of búa “to prepare, dwell”,^[5][2][3] from Proto-Indo-European *bheue- (“to be, exist, grow”).^[5] The final -d, usual after the mid-16th century, is probably from association with bound “tied”.^[1][2][5] It is related to bower.^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Ready, prepared: about 1200 in the OED and Etymonline.^[7][5]

Semantic evolution

Prepared or intending to go, heading somewhere, is from about 1400.^[7][5] It is used as a suffix in words such as homebound and northbound.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1200 – ready.^[7][5]
• c. 1400 – going, destined for a place.^[7][5]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Travelling towards a place: bound for London.
2. (archaic) Ready or prepared.

bound³ limit

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English bounde, borrowed from Anglo-Norman bounde, from Old French bodne, bonne, borne,^[6][2] from Medieval Latin bodina, earlier butina, of unknown origin.^[2][6] Barnhart suggests it may be Gaulish.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

A landmark marking the limit of an estate: about 1205 in the OED, probably before 1300 in Barnhart.^[7][1]

Semantic evolution

A boundary line, or a limit in general, is from 1387 (about 1380 in Chaucer's Boethius in Barnhart).^[7][1] Land near a boundary, a border territory, is from 1340.^[7] A limit of anything immaterial, as of duty or law, is from 1393.^[7] The limit beyond which soldiers or students may not go, as in out of bounds, is from 1681.^[7] The verb, to set bounds to, is from 1391–3,^[1][7] while “to form the boundary of” dates from 1601.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 1205 – a landmark.^[7]
• 1340 – border land.^[7]
• 1387 – a boundary, limit.^[7]
• 1393 – verb, to limit.^[7]
• 1681 – out of bounds.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A limit or boundary, usually in the plural bounds.

Verb

1. To form the boundary of something.
2. To set limits to something.

bound⁴ leap

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French bondir (“to rebound, leap”), from Old French bondir “to resound”,^[1][2][5] from Vulgar Latin *bombitīre, from Late Latin bombitāre “to buzz”, from Latin bombus “a buzzing or booming sound”.^[1][2] It is related to bomb.^[3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The noun, a leap, is recorded before 1553 in Udall's Ralph Roister Doister, about 35 years before the verb.^[1][7]

Semantic evolution

The verb, to make a horse leap, is from 1586,^[7][1] to spring upwards or move by leaps from 1592,^[7] and to recoil or rebound from 1593, now obsolete.^[7] The Old French verb first meant to make a noise, sound a horn, and only later to rebound and leap.^[5]

Timeline

• a. 1553 – noun, a leap.^[1][7]
• 1586 – verb.^[1][7]
• 1592 – to spring, move in leaps.^[7]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To move along with long leaps.
2. To bounce back after hitting a surface.

Noun

1. A leap or jump.

Related words

• bind
• bounden
• boundary
• bower
• bomb
• abound

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin