Bond, Band and Bind Are One Family
A bond is something that binds, whether a tie, a promise or a financial instrument. All three senses come from binding.
A bond is something that binds: a physical tie, a relationship, a binding promise or a debt security. *Bond*, *band* and *bind* are all the same root, and the financial sense follows directly: a bond is a written promise that binds the issuer to repay. In chemistry, a bond is what holds atoms together, again the same image. *My word is my bond* was the motto of the London Stock Exchange, meaning a spoken agreement was binding.
- A tie or link. *A close bond.*
- A debt security. *Government bonds.*
- A chemical link. *A covalent bond.*
- A binding promise. *My word is my bond.*
- Old Norse — *band*. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | bond | A bond. |
| Plural | bonds | Bonds. |
| Verb | bond | Bonded. |
| Related | band | A band. |
| Related | bind | To bind. |
- They formed a close bond.Relationship.
- She bought government bonds.Finance.
- Water has hydrogen bonds.Chemistry.
The binding family
- Bond — anything that binds
- Band — a strip that binds, and a group bound together
- Bind — the verb at the root of them all
- Bundle — things bound up together
- Bandage — a binding strip for a wound
A variant of *band*, from Old Norse *band*, from the same root as *bind*.
Why is a financial bond called that?
Because it binds the issuer to a promise to repay. The word means anything that binds.
Are bond, band and bind related?
Yes. All three come from the same Germanic root meaning to tie.