Binding

How to spell binding

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce binding

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does binding mean?

1. adjectiveImposing an obligation that cannot be broken or ignored, especially in a legal or formal sense.
2. nounThe cover and fastening that hold the pages of a book together.
3. nounThe fastening that secures a boot to a ski or snowboard.

Binding in a sentence

• adjective

  Both parties signed a binding contract before any money changed hands.

• noun

  The leather binding of the old atlas had cracked along the spine.

• noun

  The technician adjusted the binding so the boot would release in a fall.

• adjective

  The committee decided that the vote would be binding on all members.

• noun

  The library paid to repair the binding on several rare volumes.

• noun

  A faulty binding can twist the knee if it fails to let go.

Where does binding come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word grows directly from the Old English verb bindan, meaning 'to tie up' or 'fasten', a thoroughly Germanic verb with close cousins across the family such as German binden and Dutch binden, all tracing back to a reconstructed root meaning 'to bind or tie'. The same ancient root also gave English the noun 'bond' and the word 'band', so the idea of fastening things together runs through a whole cluster of everyday words. By adding the suffix -ing, English formed both a verbal noun (the act of fastening, or the cover that holds a book together) and an adjective (something that ties a person to an obligation). The legal sense, describing an agreement that holds the parties firmly to their word, is simply the original physical idea of being tied down carried over into the world of promises. Because the spelling keeps the single -d and the long 'i' of bind before the suffix, writers rarely double the consonant, which is the small trap worth remembering.

How the word is built

• bind (from Old English bindan: to tie, fasten)
• -ing (noun/adjective suffix)