bʰendʰ-
“to bind, to tie”bind, tie, bond
Root for binding, yielding English bind, band, bond, bundle, Sanskrit bandh-.
Discussion
The PIE root *bʰendʰ- (to bind, to tie, to fasten) produced the vocabulary of physical and social binding across the major branches — words for ropes, bundles, obligations, and the bonds that hold communities together.
English bind (OE bindan, from PGmc *bindaną) continues the root natively, along with: bond (that which binds — both physical ropes and financial obligations), band (a binding strip — then a group bound together, as in a band of musicians), bundle (things bound together), bent (curved by binding), and ribbon (from OF riban, possibly related). German binden (to bind) and Bund (federation, alliance — a group bound by agreement) confirm the Germanic reflexes.
Latin offendīcula ("stumbling block" — from a related form) and possibly funda ("sling" — a binding loop for throwing stones) show Italic reflexes, though the Latin continuation is less transparent than the Germanic one.
Sanskrit bándhati ("he binds") and the related bandha- ("bond, binding, captivity") continue the root in Indo-Iranian. The Buddhist concept of bandha (bondage — the ties of worldly attachment that bind the soul to the cycle of rebirth) elevates the physical binding metaphor to the highest level of spiritual discourse: liberation (mokṣa) IS unbinding, the release from the ties of craving.
Greek peîsma (πεῖσμα, "a ship's cable" — from the same root via a different formation) preserves the nautical binding sense.
The social metaphor is the root's deepest legacy: a bond is simultaneously a rope and an obligation, a band is simultaneously a strip of cloth and a community, and to be bound is simultaneously to be physically tied and socially committed. The PIE speakers who named the act of tying ropes generated the vocabulary of social contracts, financial instruments, and spiritual liberation.
Notes
Pokorny 127. English bind, band, bond, bundle, ribbon.
Related Roots
English Words from *bʰendʰ-
These modern English words descend from this root. Each page traces the full journey from PIE to present-day English.