Etymologically
Log in

lier

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 15:34. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

Forms

lier[1] Old French lïer, with regular forms leier and loier.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French lïer, inherited from Latin ligō (“to tie, bind, bandage, fasten, unite”).[5][3][6][2] The regular outcomes of the Latin forms were leier and loier, with a stressed stem loie, which survive in many north-eastern dialects.[3][7] The vowel ⟨i⟩ is analogical: after alternations such as neier / nie, speakers said ⟨lie⟩ for ⟨loie⟩, and the ⟨i⟩ then spread through the whole conjugation.[7][3][4] Another hypothesis posits an unattested Latin form with long ⟨ī⟩, which Old Occitan, Catalan and Portuguese might also require.[3]

Cognate with Romanian lega, Italian legare, Old Occitan liar, Catalan lligar, Spanish ligar and Portuguese ligar.[8][9] Without forming a true Indo-European family, the Latin verb is compared with an Albanian verb and with Old Norse lite “rope”.[3] Wiktionary traces it to Proto-Indo-European *leyǵ- (“to bind”).[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Vie de saint Léger (second half of the 10th century) Ebroin has the saint seized and bound: lïer lo fist.[5][4] In the Chanson de Roland Ganelon's hands and feet are tied: Puis si li lient e les piez e les mains.[5][10]

Semantic evolution

Most senses are recorded before the end of the 13th century: to tie someone to something (about 1130), to join different things with a bond (about 1150), to close with a tie (late 13th century).[3][5] Figuratively it appears in a biblical context (1174) for refusing absolution, the power de lier et deslier les pecheeurs, and it was used for creating an emotional or moral tie (1160–74), a legal obligation (1283), and for hindering or subjecting someone (about 1200).[3][10]

In cooking lier a sauce or soup, to thicken it, is in the Ménagier de Paris (about 1393); in writing lier ses lettres is recorded in 1690, and in music lier les notes in 1771.[5][4][8] Fou à lier, “raving mad”, goes back to Racine (1668).[4][5] Derivatives include liasse (about 1170), liaison (13th century), délier and relier.[7]

Timeline

  • Second half of the 10th century – Lïer in the Vie de saint Léger.[5]
  • c. 1100 – Ganelon is bound in the Chanson de Roland.[5]
  • c. 1150 – Tonneaus loier in the Charroi de Nîmes.[5]
  • 1174 – The biblical binding and loosing of sins.[3]
  • 1283 – A legal obligation, in Beaumanoir.[3][10]
  • c. 1393 – Thickening a sauce, in the Ménagier de Paris.[5][4]
  • 1668 – Fou à lier in Racine's Plaideurs.[5][4]
  • 1690 – Furetière records lier ses lettres.[8][4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To tie or bind together with a cord or band: lier de la paille en bottes; to tie up (a person).[8][5]
  2. To join, connect: lier ses lettres in handwriting, lier les mots in speech, with a liaison.[8]
  3. (music) To play notes legato.[8]
  4. (cooking) To thicken (a sauce) with an ingredient.[8][1]
  5. To link, connect (ideas, facts).[1][5]
  6. To bind by an obligation, a promise or a contract.[5][4]
  7. To unite by a feeling or common interest, se lier d'amitié, to become friends.[1][8]
  8. Fou à lier: raving mad, avoir les mains liées: to be powerless to act.[1][5]

Word family

  • liaison
  • licol
  • lieur
  • délier
  • relier

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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, 319a
  7. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  10. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette