ligament

From Middle English ligament, from Latin ligāmentum, from ligō (“tie, bind”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɪɡəmənt/

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ligament (plural ligaments)

1. (anatomy) A band of strong tissue that connects bones to other bones.
   • 1846, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Christmas Banquet”, in Mosses from an Old Manse:

     It so chanced that at this juncture the decayed ligaments of the skeleton gave way, and the dry bones fell together in a heap, thus causing the dusty wreath of cypress to drop upon the table.

2. (figurative) That which binds or acts as a ligament.
   • 1795 July, Alexander Hamilton, “The Defence of the Funding System”, in Harold C. Syrett, editor, The Papers of Alexander Hamilton‎, volume 19, New York: Columbia University Press, published 1973, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 40:

     It remains to mention one consideration which naturally occurred in the reflections upon the expediency of assuming the State Debts. This is its tendency to strengthen our infant Government by increasing the number of ligaments between the Government and the interests of Individuals.

   • 1845, Daniel Webster, oration on Justice Joseph Story

     Justice is the ligament which holds civilized beings and civilized nations together.

• sinew
• tendon

• tegminal

Borrowed from Latin ligāmentum, from ligō (“tie, bind”). Cf. also liement, possibly an inherited doublet.

• IPA^(key): /li.ɡa.mɑ̃/

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ligament m (plural ligaments)

1. ligament

• lier

• “ligament”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

• lygament

Borrowed from Latin ligāmentum.

• IPA^(key): /liˈɡaːmɛnt/, /ˈliɡamɛnt/

ligament (plural ligamentes)

1. A ligament or similar connecting tissue (e.g. a tendon)
2. (rare) That which binds.

• English: ligament

• “ligā̆ment, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Borrowed from French ligament, itself a borrowing from Latin ligāmentum, from ligō (“tie, bind”). By surface analysis, liga +‎ -ment. Compare legământ, an inherited doublet.

• IPA^(key): [li.ɡaˈment]

ligament n (plural ligamente)

1. ligament