lien

Forms

lien m (plural liens)^[1] Old French leien, loien, liien and liem.^[2][3][4] Anglo-Norman also wrote lyen.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French lien, inherited from Latin ligāmen (“band, tie, cord”), from ligō (“to bind, tie”).^[5][3][2][6] The regular Old French outcomes of the Latin noun were leien and loien, which survive in many dialects; the modern form was remade after the verb lier.^[2][3][7]

Cognate with Italian legame, Occitan liam, Catalan lligam and Portuguese ligame.^[8][9] Littré records the dialect form Walloon loien.^[8] The English legal term lien comes from the Anglo-Norman word.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the first half of the 12th century in the Oxford Psalter, used figuratively for the bonds that shackle someone (Derumpuns les lur lïens, “let us break their bonds”, translating Latin vincula).^[5][3] The concrete sense, a cord or band used for tying, appears in Wace's Life of Saint Margaret (1130–1140).^[5]

Semantic evolution

In Old French the word also meant a dog's leash, where modern French says laisse (late 12th century), and the bonds or fetters of a prisoner, a sense now dated.^[5][3] From the 12th century it was used figuratively for what joins people by affection or duty: a bond of love (about 1175, Benoît de Sainte-Maure), an obligation from a vow (late 12th century) and the bond of marriage (late 13th century), today mostly in the plural.^[5][3] It also meant what holds someone in dependence or servitude; in the classical period this was mainly the “bondage” of love, and the sense then softened to an affectionate relationship, as in liens d'amitié.^[3]

A legal sense is recorded in 1283, and in the 19th century the word was used in logic for a connection between ideas (lien du discours, 1851–1862).^[3][5] Technical senses include a diagonal brace in carpentry (1676).^[10][7] In computing a lien is a link between pieces of information, as in lien hypertexte, with the compound hyperlien.^[10][3]

Timeline

• First half of the 12th century – Used figuratively for bonds in the Oxford Psalter.^[5]
• 1130–1140 – The concrete sense “cord, band”, in Wace.^[5]
• Late 12th century – “Leash for a dog”, in the Oxford Folie Tristan.^[5]
• c. 1175 – An affectionate bond, in Benoît de Sainte-Maure.^[5][3]
• Late 13th century – Lien de mariage.^[5][3]
• 1283 – A legal sense.^[3]
• 1676 – A carpentry term, in Félibien.^[7][10]
• 1851–1862 – A logical connection between ideas.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A tie or band, any flexible strip used to bind things together: le lien d'une gerbe.^[10][5]
2. (carpentry) A diagonal brace joining two timbers set at an angle.^[10]
3. A connection, relation between facts or ideas: il n'y a aucun lien entre ces deux affaires, lien de cause à effet.^[10][7]
4. (computing) A link between pieces of information: lien hypertexte.^[10][1]
5. A bond between people: les liens du sang, les liens de l'amitié, les liens du mariage.^[10][8]
6. (dated) The cords or chains of a prisoner; figuratively, what keeps someone in dependence: briser ses liens.^[10][8]

Word family

• limier
• hyperlien

Related words

• lier
• relier
• liane
• Latin ligāmen
• English lien

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 5, 317a
7. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert