liement

Forms

liement m (plural liements)^[1] Old French lïement, Anglo-Norman also leement.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from French lier + -ment.^[4][5][6][1] In its medical sense it corresponds to Latin ligāmentum, the source of the borrowed ligament, so that Wiktionary treats the two as doublets.^[4][5][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Oxford Psalter (first half of the 12th century), where les declinanz en liemenz renders Latin declinantes in obligationes: those who leave the right path for the bonds of sin.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In Anglo-Norman the word meant binding or tying up, a bond or obligation, a tie, and a joining or combination.^[2] From 1273 it meant the fact of being bound to something, a sense kept in some dictionaries until the end of the 17th century.^[4] In 1314 the surgeon Henri de Mondeville used it for a bandage or ligature and, in anatomy, for a ligament.^[4] The GLLF gives the 12th-century sense as “bond, ligature”.^[6]

The modern sense belongs to fencing: recorded in 1893 by the Dictionnaire général, it is the action of binding the opponent's blade, a way of approaching by touching it.^[4][6] Jules Renard used it in a comedy in 1904.^[4]

Timeline

• 1100–1150 – Liemenz appears in the Oxford Psalter.^[4]
• 1273 – It means the fact of being bound to something.^[4]
• 1314 – Henri de Mondeville uses it for a bandage and for a ligament.^[4]
• 1893 – The Dictionnaire général records the fencing sense.^[4][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (rare) The action of binding or tying.^[4][1]
2. (fencing) A bind: taking and holding the opponent's blade with one's own.^[4][6]

Related words

• lier
• lien
• ligament
• Latin ligāmentum

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
3. ^ Tobler, Adolf; Lommatzsch, Erhard (1925–2002), Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch, 11 vols., Berlin / Wiesbaden / Stuttgart: Weidmann / Steiner, p. 5:412
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse