Etymologically
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ligamen

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [lɪˈɡaː.mɛn][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [liˈɡaː.men][1]

Forms

ligāmen n (genitive ligāminis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ligō1 (“to tie, bind”) + -men.[2][3][1] The verb goes back to Proto-Indo-European *leig- (“to tie, bind”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler finds it first in Propertius (57/46–12 BC),[5] who writes of the night-time ties of a Sidonian headband being undone.[3][6]

Semantic evolution

It is a poetic and post-Augustan word for anything tied round or onto something.[6][3] Ovid has the bonds of the winds of Aeolus, which Ulysses' companions loosed;[3][6] Columella the ties of vines and of bundles of herbs, and a papyrus bandage.[3][6] Grattius seems to use it of a nerve or ligament.[2] Gregory of Tours spells it legāmen, and early medieval law codes confuse it with ligāmentum.[3]

In Medieval Latin it was also a bunch of herbs applied to a sick person and a bale of goods,[7] and canon law used it for the bond of an earlier marriage, which bars a new one.[8] It lives on in Italian legame, French lien, Catalan lligam and Portuguese liame.[3] English lien comes from the French word.[4]

Timeline

  • 57/46–12 BC – Propertius: the ties of a headband.[3][5]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid: the bonds of the winds.[3][5]
  • 1st century AD – Columella: ties of vines, and a bandage.[6][5]
  • c. 1085 – Canon law uses it of the bond of an earlier marriage.[8]
  • 1530s – English lien, from French, as a legal term.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A tie, band, string, fastening.[2][6][1]
  2. A bandage.[2][6]
  3. (apparently) A nerve or ligament.[2]
  4. (Medieval Latin) A bunch of herbs applied to a patient, a poultice; a bale of goods.[7][1]
  5. (Ecclesiastical Latin, canon law) The bond of an existing marriage, as an impediment to another.[8]
  • English lien

Usage notes

Niermeyer records a separate medieval ligamen meaning liege homage, formed from ligius.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson