Tie

How to spell tie

3 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce tie

What does tie mean?

1. verbTo fasten or secure something using a cord, string, or knot.
2. nounA strip of cloth worn around the neck under a collar and knotted at the front.
3. nounA result in which two or more competitors finish level with the same score.

Tie in a sentence

• verb

  He learned to tie his shoelaces at the age of four.

• noun

  He wore a silk tie with his grey suit to the interview.

• noun

  The match ended in a tie after extra time.

• verb

  Please tie the parcel firmly before posting it.

• noun

  The school uniform requires a navy blazer and a striped tie.

• noun

  A play-off was needed to break the tie between the two leaders.

Where does tie come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

Tie comes from the Old English verb tigan, meaning 'to bind or fasten', which sat alongside the noun teah or teag, a word for a rope, cord, or anything used to bind. These trace back to a Germanic root linked to the idea of pulling or drawing something tight, and that same family gave us the word 'tow'. For centuries the spelling wobbled, appearing as 'tye' and 'tey', before settling into the modern 'tie'. The sporting sense of a 'tie', an equal score that binds two contestants together, grew out of the same idea of being bound or fastened on level terms, and emerged in the 1600s. The neckwear sense is much younger, recorded from the early 1700s, named simply for the strip of cloth a person ties at the throat.

How the word is built

• tie (from Old English tigan: to bind, fasten)

Words that sound like tie

They sound the same but mean different things, so the meaning decides which spelling to write.

• thai: Relating to Thailand, its people, language, or culture.