band

Forms

band n (genitive bands, plural bǫnd) (strong a-stem)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *bandą (“band, fetter”),^[1][2] a noun made to the strong verb Proto-Germanic *bindaną (“to bind”), the source of binda.^[3][4] The same neuter noun is Old Saxon band and Old High German bant;^[5][6] with another suffix the word is Gothic 𐌱𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌹 (bandi) and Old English bend.^[5][7]

The root is Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ- (“to bind”),^[2] which also gave Middle Irish buinne (“band”).^[5][4] The verb benda “to bend (a bow)” is made from the noun, the bow being fitted with its string.^[6][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest dated records are three passages of the Icelandic Homily Book, which ONP dates to about 1200, all in the plural sense “bonds”: almáttegr goþ ... sléit bꜵnd eilífs dꜹ́þa oc þungrar synþar “almighty God ... broke the bonds of eternal death and heavy sin”.^[8] Menota has bǫnd and bǫndum in AM 677 4to of 1200–1225.^[9]

Semantic evolution

ONP orders the senses from a band or strap and a rope or tether to the plural “bonds, fetters”, by far the commonest use, and then to figurative bonds, a bandage, and a binding agreement or confederacy.^[8] Fritzner puts first the act of binding, opposed to lausn “loosing”, as in lausn ok band allra vandamála, said of the man who decided every difficult case.^[10][11] The plural bǫnd in heathen poetry names the gods, “those who bind”;^[12][13] Cleasby and Vigfússon note that all the instances are from heathen poems.^[12][13] The word is common in religious and legal writing.^[8]

In modern Icelandic band also means the binding and a volume of a book.^[4] De Vries takes Middle English band “fetter” as probably a Norse loan, after Björkman, and the word was borrowed as Finnish panta.^[5]

Timeline

• 1200 – bꜵnd “bonds” in the Icelandic Homily Book.^[8]
• 1200–1225 – bǫnd, bǫndum in AM 677 4to.^[9]
• 1212 – the alliterating pair bǫnd ok bardagi in the Norwegian Homily Book.^[8]
• 1258–1264 – the definite bǫndin in Lbs fragm. 82.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. the act of binding, the opposite of loosing; figuratively, deciding.^[11][10]
2. a band, tape or strap.^[8]
3. a rope, cord or tether.^[8][11]
4. (plural) bonds, fetters, captivity.^[8][11]
5. a bandage.^[8][15]
6. a binding agreement, bond or confederacy.^[8][16]
7. (poetic, plural) the gods.^[11][13]

Word family

• bandamaðr
• bandingi
• benda
• bendill
• hjónaband
• handaband
• friðband
• hálsband
• fótband

Descendants

• Icelandic band^[1]
• Faroese band^[1]
• Norwegian Nynorsk band^[1]
• Norwegian Bokmål band^[1]
• Swedish band^[1]
• Danish bånd^[1]

Related words

• binda

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
3. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 64
4. ^ a b c Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. band
5. ^ a b c d de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 25
6. ^ a b Torp, Alf (1909), Wortschatz der germanischen Spracheinheit (Fick, Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der indogermanischen Sprachen, 4th ed., vol. 3), Göttingen, p. 258
7. ^ Hellquist, Elof (1922), Svensk etymologisk ordbok, Lund, p. s.v. band
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Ordbog over det norrøne prosasprog / A Dictionary of Old Norse Prose, Copenhagen, onp.ku.dk (CC BY-SA 4.0), p. s.v. band
9. ^ a b Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. AM 677 4to
10. ^ a b Fritzner, Johan (1886–1896), Ordbog over det gamle norske Sprog, 2nd ed., Kristiania, p. s.v. band
11. ^ a b c d e Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. band
12. ^ a b Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 51
13. ^ a b c Finnur Jónsson (1931), Lexicon Poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis, 2nd ed., Copenhagen: S. L. Møller, p. 34
14. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. Lbs fragm. 82
15. ^ Gering, Hugo (1903), Vollständiges Wörterbuch zu den Liedern der Edda, Halle: Waisenhaus, p. col. 88
16. ^ Baetke, Walter (1965–1968), Wörterbuch zur altnordischen Prosaliteratur, Berlin (digital ed. Greifswald 2006), p. 39