ligament

Forms

ligament m (plural ligaments)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin ligāmentum (“tie, band”), in medical Latin “bandage”, formed on the supine of ligō (“to tie, bind”).^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Old French had the popular form liement “bond”, which Littré calls the regular outcome of the Latin word and which survived in some technical uses.^[4][7][2][1]

Littré compares Old Occitan ligament, liament, Spanish ligamiento and Italian legamento.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Grand Robert and the GLLF date it from Guy de Chauliac's surgery (1363); the TLFi's first dated record is the Guidon en françois of 1520, with ligamens also in Chauliac's Grande Chirurgie, and Bloch and Wartburg give 1503.^[5][8][2][4] In these texts it is the anatomical ligament.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Henri de Mondeville still used liement in 1314 for the tissue joining the parts of the body.^[8][7] In the 16th century Ambroise Paré noted that ligament was used loosely for any part joining one part of the body to another, and defined it strictly as a simple part, the most earthy after bone and cartilage.^[7] The word was extended to the folds of the peritoneum that hold the abdominal organs in place, and to the elastic part joining the two valves of a bivalve shell.^[8][7][9]

Timeline

• 1314 – Henri de Mondeville uses the popular form liement.^[8][7]
• 1363 – Guy de Chauliac uses it.^[5][8]
• 1478 – The adjective ligamental appears.^[3]
• 1503 – Bloch and Wartburg's date;^[4][3] ligamenteux is recorded the same year.^[4][3]
• 1520 – It appears in the Guidon en françois.^[2][3]
• 1903 – The adjective ligamentaire is recorded.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (anatomy) A tough band of whitish fibrous tissue joining the bones of a joint or holding organs in place: une déchirure des ligaments.^{[2][10][9][11]}
2. (anatomy) A fold of the peritoneum joining abdominal or pelvic organs to one another or to the abdominal wall: ligaments péritonéaux.^[10][8][9]
3. (zoology) The elastic part joining the two valves of a bivalve shell.^[9][7][8]

Word family

• ligamentaire
• ligamenteux

Related words

• lier
• ligature
• lien
• liement
• Latin ligāmentum

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 5, 329b
7. ^ a b c d e f g Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
10. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)