bend English · revision 7471

+ The verb bend and the old noun bend, a band, both go back to the Germanic root of [[bind]]; the noun survives in heraldry and in sailors' knots.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bɛnd/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ {{homograph|1|curve}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1000|origins=gem-pro *bandjaną}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English benden, [[inh|ang|bendan|t=to bend a bow, bring into a curve; confine with a string]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(Barnhart 1988) a causative of bindan, to [[bind]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from Proto-Germanic *bandjanan,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) source also of Old Norse [[m|non|benda|t=to join, strain, bend]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from PIE [[ine-pro|*bʰendʰ-|alt=*bhendh-|t=to bind]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To tighten or bend a bow: Old English, about 1000 in Barnhart.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Word Origins notes that bendan meant to put in bonds or to make a bow taut by means of a string, which led to its association with the curved shape of the bow.^(Cresswell 2021) To curve or make crooked is from the early 14th century,^(Etymonline) the intransitive, to become curved, from the late 14th century, and to turn aside from a straight line from the 1510s.^(Etymonline) Figuratively, to bow or submit, it is from about 1400.^(Etymonline) The noun, the act of drawing a bow, is from the mid-15th century (about 1434 in Barnhart),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) a bending or curve from the 1590s, and a bent part from about 1600.^(Etymonline) ''The bends'', decompression sickness, is attested from 1894.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1000 – bendan, to tighten a bow.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * early 14th century – to make curved.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1400 – to submit.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1434 – the noun.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1590s – a curve.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1894 – the bends.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make or become [[curve|alt=curved]] or angular.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To turn from a straight line or a particular direction.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To lean the body forward; to [[stoop]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To force to give way; to [[subdue]], or to [[yield]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To apply oneself closely to something.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A curve or turn, as in a road or river.^(AHD)

+ # ''(the bends)'' [[decompression sickness|alt=Decompression sickness]].^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bendable]]

+ * [[bended]]

+ * [[bender]]

+ * [[bendy]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|band}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 890|origins=gem-pro *bandją}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|ang|bend|t=bond, fetter, band, ribbon]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) from Proto-Germanic *bandjō, from the base of [[bind]],^(Hoad 1986) later coinciding with Old French bende (modern bande), which is from Germanic.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) Its other senses passed to [[band]].^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Anything with which the body or limbs are bound, a fetter: about 890.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A ribbon or strap, as part of dress, is from about 1000.^(OED 1989) In heraldry, the broad diagonal band on a shield is from the mid-14th century in Etymonline and the 15th century in Hoad;^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) it normally runs from the upper right to the lower left, and the ''bend sinister'' along the other diagonal.^(Etymonline) A knot uniting one rope to another or to an object is nautical from 1769.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 890 – a bond, fetter.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1000 – a ribbon or strap.^(OED 1989)

+ * mid-14th century – in heraldry.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1769 – a knot.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(heraldry)'' A band running diagonally from the upper [[dexter]] corner of a shield to the lower [[sinister]] corner.^(AHD)

+ # ''(nautical)'' A [[knot]] that joins a rope to another rope or object.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bend sinister]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[bent]]

+ * [[bind]]

+ * [[band]]

+ * [[bond]]

+ * [[bundle]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}