Bonds

How to spell bonds

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce bonds

What does bonds mean?

1. nounFixed-income debt securities issued by governments or companies that pay interest to the holder.
2. nounClose connections or ties between people, or physical restraints.
3. verbForms a close relationship with someone, or joins firmly to another surface.

Bonds in a sentence

• noun

  She moved her savings into government bonds for a steadier return.

• noun

  The family bonds grew stronger after they moved closer together.

• verb

  The new glue bonds instantly to metal and glass.

• noun

  The pension fund holds a mix of shares and corporate bonds.

• noun

  The prisoner struggled against the rope bonds around his wrists.

• verb

  A baby usually bonds with whoever provides constant care.

Where does bonds come from?

Language of origin: Old Norse

The word descends from the Old Norse 'band', meaning a fastening or anything that ties or binds, which was closely linked to the verb 'binda', to bind. It entered English in the medieval period as a variant of 'band', and for a long time the two forms overlapped before splitting in meaning. From the literal idea of a physical fastening or rope, 'bond' broadened to cover figurative ties: a moral or emotional connection, a binding legal agreement, and, by the 1600s, a written promise to repay borrowed money. The chemical sense, a force holding atoms together, arrived much later in the nineteenth century. Because the singular already ends in a clear 'd', the plural simply adds 's', so the spelling trap is small; the only thing to remember is the silent ease with which 'nds' runs together.

How the word is built

• bond (from Old Norse band: something that binds)
• -s (plural / third-person verb suffix)