Also 4–5 boond, 5–7 bonde, 6 bound. [ME. bond, a phonetic var. of BAND sb.1 (cf. land lond, stand stond, etc.), used interchangeably with it in early senses; but bond preserved more distinctly the connection with bind, bound, and is now the leading or exclusive form in branch II.]
I. lit. That with or by which a thing is bound.
1. Anything with which one’s body or limbs are bound in restraint of personal liberty; a shackle, chain, fetter, manacle. arch. (and only in pl.).
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 2230. Bondes ben leid on Symeon.
c. 1340. Cursor M., 7202 (Trin.). Alle his bondes he brake in two [other MSS. bandes, -is].
1382. Wyclif, Acts xvi. 26. The bondis of alle ben vnbounden.
1570. Levins, Manip., 166. Bonde, vinculum.
1611. Bible, Acts xxvi. 29. Altogether such as I am, except these bonds.
1785. Cowper, Task, II. 36. I had much rather be myself the slave, And wear the bonds, than fasten them on him.
fig. 1802. Bingley, Anim. Zool. (1813), I. 44. As soon as the parts of the animal, within the shell of the chrysalis, have acquired strength sufficient to break the bonds that surround it.
b. abstr. Confinement, imprisonment, custody. (In later times only in plural.) arch.
a. 1225. St. Marher., 13. Þu … þt haldes me in bondes.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 2075. Ic am … holden in bond.
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron., 123. Arnulf … was taken als thefe, & abrouht in bond.
c. 1400. Gamelyn, 401. Lese me out of bond.
c. 1430. Hymns Virg. (1867), 6. Let me neuere falle in boondis of þe queed!
1595. Shaks., John, III. iv. 74. I … will againe commit them to their bonds.
1667. Milton, P. L., II. 207. To endure Exile, or ignominy, or bonds, or pain.
1722. Sewel, Hist. Quakers (1795), I. 61. Drunkards, and fighters, and swearers, have their liberty without bonds.
1884. Tennyson, Becket, 190. Prate not of bonds.
† c. Our Lady’s bonds: pregnancy; confinement at child-birth, accouchement. Obs.
1504. Will of W. Pryor, App., I Alys beyng in the bondis of owr lady.
1558. Bp. White, in Strype, Eccl. Mem., III. II. lxxxi. 286. To dye in the bond, as they call it, of our Lady, and travail of child.
2. That with which a thing is bound or tied down, or together, so as to keep it in its position or collective form: formerly including metal hoops girding anything; still the regular name for the withe which ties up a fagot, and in various technical senses. Cf. also 13.
c. 1340. Cursor M., 1671 (Trin.). Bynde [þe tymber] furste wiþ balke & bonde.
1420. E. E. Wills (1882), 46. 1 bord mausure with a bond of seluer.
1542–3. Act 34 & 35 Hen. VIII., iii. The bonde of euery whiche faggotte to conteine three quarters of a yarde.
1690. Locke, Hum. Und., II. xxiii. What conceivable Hoops, what Bond he can imagine to hold this mass of Matter.
1879. Jefferies, Wild Life in S. Co., 123. Binding [the thatch] down with a crosswork of bonds, to prevent the gales … unroofing the rick.
† b. Formerly more generally, ‘string, band, tie.’
1388. Wyclif, Judges xvi. 13. If thou plattist seuene heeris of myn heed with a strong boond.
c. 1450. Merlin, xxiii. 425. Bounden to the sadell with two bondes.
a. 1500. Kyng & Hermit, 466, in Hazl., E. P. P., 31. The frere gaff him bow in hond, Iake, he seyd, draw up the bond.
1674. Pardon of Rome, in Staveley, Rom. Horseleach (1769), 55. In the Chirch of St. Crucis … there is a Bond that Chryst was led with to his Crucifyeing.
fig. c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 2113. Non so wis … Ðe kuðe undon ðis dremes bond.
† 3. A bandage. Obs.
1382. Wyclif, John xi. 44. And anoon he that was deed, cam forth, bounden the hondis and feet with bondis [1611 graue-clothes].
1541. R. Copland, Guydon’s Quest. Chirurg. What quantite of length and brede ought the bondes to be?
1670. Eachard, Cont. Clergy, in Arb., Garner, VII. 259. To make a bond or give a glyster.
† 4. A quantity bound together; bunch, bundle.
c. 1462. Wright’s Chaste Wife, 226. Sche toke hym a bonde [of hemp] … And bade hym fast on to bete.
1483. Caxton, Gold. Leg., 67/1. Abygail toke … C bondes of grapes dreyde.
II. fig. A restraining or uniting force.
5. (fig. from 1) Any circumstance that trammels or takes away freedom of action; a force that enslaves the mind through the affections or passion; in pl. trammels, shackles.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 2716. Moyses … hente ðe cherl wið hise wond, And he fel dun in dedes bond.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., III. xiii. (1495), 57. The soule … muste suffre for the bonde of the body that he is joyned to.
c. 1440. Gesta Rom., ii. 7. Helde in the bond of seruitute of synne.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 57. Thou must cutte away all outwarde bondes whiche … sholde be let or hynderaunce to perfeccyon.
1832. Lander, Exped. Niger, II. vi. 129. Nor does the marriage ceremony break the bonds of the woman’s slavery.
1871. Morley, Voltaire (1886), 25. Hindered by the tight bonds of an old order.
6. A constraining force or tie acting upon the mind, and recognised by it as obligatory.
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron., 260. Þe bondes of homage & feaute.
1592. West, Symbol, I. I. § 2. Therefore it is termed the bond of right or law.
1651. Hobbes, Leviath., I. xiv. 65. The Bonds, by which men are bound, and obliged.
1769. Junius Lett., i. 9. Justice is, perhaps, the firmest bond to secure a cheerful submission of the people.
a. 1876. J. H. Newman, Hist. Sk. (1876), I. I. iv. 172. What serves as a bond to-day will be equally serviceable to-morrow.
† b. Obligation, duty. Obs.
c. 1449. Pecock, Repr., III. vii. 316. The ensaumple … makith no boond that preestis … lyue withoute endewing of vnmouable possessions.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 160 b. Prayers of bonde or duty.
1535. Bp. Gardiner, in Strype, Eccl. Mem., I. II. App. lx. 148. I know my duty and bond to your highnes.
1643. Burroughes, Exp. Hosea, v. (1652), 231. There is no such bond upon conscience … as this, [etc.].
7. A uniting or cementing force or influence by which a union of any kind is maintained.
1382. Wyclif, Ephes. iv. 3. Besy for to kepe vnite of spirit in the bond of pees.
1549. Bk. Com. Prayer, Quinquag. Sunday Collect, Charitie, the verie bonde of peace and all vertue.
1690. Locke, Hum. Und., III. xi. Speech being the great Bond that holds Society together.
1789. Belsham, Ess., I. viii. 163. An urgent and obvious want of some common bond of union.
1820. W. Irving, Sk. Bk., I. 43. The only bond that can keep hearts together—unreserved community of thought and feeling.
b. Senses 6, 7 and 8 seem to be present in the bond(s of wedlock or matrimony.
1552. Huloet, Bonde of matrimonye or wedlocke.
1601. Shaks., Jul. C., II. i. 280. Within the Bond of Marriage.
1645. Milton, Tetrach., Wks. 1738, I. 241. That divorce which finally dissolves the bond, and frees both parties to a second Marriage.
1712. Hughes, Spect., No. 525, ¶ 1. He is ready to enter into the bonds of matrimony.
1859. Tennyson, Elaine, 1200. Our bond is not the bond of man and wife.
8. An agreement or engagement binding on him who makes it. b. A covenant between two or more persons.
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron., 311. If þe Kyng … had mad þat bond, & drawen it.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Frankl. T., 806. I yow relesse … euery surement and euery bond That ye han maad to me.
c. 1500. Lancelot, 1673. O kingis word shuld be a kingis bonde.
1535. Coverdale, Josh. ix. 11. We are youre seruauntes, therfore make now a bonde with vs.
a. 1564. Becon, Demands Holy Script., in Prayers, &c. (1844), 618. This confirmation is as it were a discharge of the godfathers bounds.
c. 1610. Sir J. Melvil, Mem. (1735), 12. A Bond offensive and defensive.
1759. Robertson, Hist. Scot., I. VII. 496. To unite the party a bond of confederacy was formed.
1810. Coleridge, Friend (1865), 171. The whole treaty of Amiens is little more than a perplexed bond of compromise respecting Malta.
1833. Marryat, P. Simple (1863), 145. My word’s as good as my bond.
1851. Coal-tr. Terms Northumbrld. & Durh., 8. Bond, the agreement to hire between coal owners and pitmen.
† c. To enter bonds: to give a bond, pledge oneself (obs.). To put under bonds: see quot.
1563–87. Foxe, A. & M., III. 353. If I shall enter bonds, covenant, and promise to appear.
1809. Kendall, Trav., III. lxxxii. 253. To put a prisoner under bonds is to order him to find bail.
III. Legal and technical senses.
9. Eng. Law. A deed, by which A (known as the obligor) binds himself, his heirs, executors, or assigns to pay a certain sum of money to B (known as the obligee), or his heirs, etc.
A may bind himself to this payment absolutely and unconditionally, in which case the deed is known as a single or simple bond (simplex obligatio): bonds in this form are obsolete. Or a condition may be attached that the deed shall be made void by the payment, by a certain date, of money, rent, etc., due from A to B, or by some other performance or observance, the sum named being only a penalty to enforce the performance of the condition, in which case the deed is termed a penal bond.
1592. West, Symbol., B ij. § 31. For a written Bond, is a Contract whereby any man confesseth himselfe by his writing orderly made, sealed, and deliuered to owe any thing unto him with whom he contracteth.
1596. Shaks., Merch. V., I. iii. 146. Goe with me toa Notarie, seale me there Your single bond.
a. 1656. Bp. Hall, Rem. Wks. (1660), 282. One cares to make his mony sure by good bonds.
1805. J. Poole, Reply R. Gardiner, 2. Devaux … having lost the original bons … importuned him until he signed a fresh set.
1809. R. Langford, Introd. Trade, 105. A bond, for money lent … is a deed in writing, whereby one person binds himself to another, to pay a sum of money, or perform some other act.
1844. H. H. Wilson, Brit. India, I. 495. The Company petitioned the House of Commons for permission to raise two millions upon bond.
b. Scotch Law. A mortgage.
1862. Burton, Bk.-hunter, II. 131. We [Scotch] speak of a bond instead of a mortgage.
10. A document of this nature (but not necessarily or usually in the form of an ordinary bond) issued by a government or public company borrowing money: in modern use synonymous with debenture.
1651. Proc. Parliament, No. 123. 1902. Large sums of Loan Money, Borrowed money on the Publick bonds.
1788. J. Powell, Devises (1827), II. 25. Bonds of turnpike commissioners, and navigation shares.
1873. Law Rep., 8 Q. B. 179. The bond numbered B. 499 was drawn as one of those to be paid off … according to the conditions printed on the back of the debenture.
1881. Morley, Cobden, II. 221. Friends … recommended him only to hold bonds or paid-up shares.
11. Surety; one who becomes bail.
1632. Star Chamb. Cases (1886), 278. Some of them appeared by bond.
1667. Pepys, Diary (1879), IV. 266. The King of England shall be bond for him.
12. In bond: (goods liable to customs-duty) stored in special warehouses (known as bonded or bonding warehouses or stores) under charge of custom-house officers, till it is convenient to the importer to pay the customs-duty and take possession. The importer on entering the goods pledges himself by bond to redeem them by paying the duty. So to take out of bond, release from bond.
1851. Ht. Martineau, Hist. Peace, V. xiv. More foreign corn was let out of bond.
1852. McCulloch, Taxation, II. x. 350. Taking the price of bohea and low congou in bond in London at 1s. per lb.
1863. Fawcett, Pol. Econ., II. iii. (1876), 552. A merchant may not wish to sell immediately the goods he imports, he is therefore permitted to place them in bond.
13. Technical uses: a. Bricklaying and Masonry. The connection or union of the bricks or stones in a wall or structure by making them overlap and hold together; a method of disposing the bricks in a wall by which the whole is bound into one compact mass: as in English bond, that in which the bricks are placed in alternate courses of ‘headers’ (bricks laid with their ends towards the face of the wall or structure) and ‘stretchers’ (bricks laid longitudinally); Flemish bond, that in which each course consists of alternate ‘headers’ and ‘stretchers’; garden bond, etc.; also a brick or stone placed lengthways through a wall to bind and strengthen it, a binder, bond-stone. b. Carpentry. The jointing or fastening of two or more pieces of timber together; also in pl. the timbers used for strengthening the walls of a building. c. Slating. The distance which the lower edge of one roofing-slate or tile extends beyond the nail of the one below it.
1677. Moxon, Mech. Exerc. (1703), 157. When Workmen say make good Bond, they mean fasten the two or more pieces of Timber well together. Ibid., 259. Do not work any Wall above 3 foot high before you work up the next adjoining Wall, that so you may … make good Bond in the Work.
1793. Smeaton, Edystone L., § 82. The tail of the header was made to have an adequate bond with the interior parts.
1823. P. Nicholson, Pract. Build., 347. Bricks are laid in a varied, but regular, form of connection, or Bond. Ibid., 352. You will have proper bond; and the key-bond in the middle of the arches.
1869. Phillips, Vesuv., ii. 34. York bond being made of broad bricks laid in several courses among squared small stone.
1872. Yeats, Techn. Hist. Comm., 87. They used large thin bricks or wall-tiles as a bond for their rubble construction.
IV. 14. Comb., as (sense 1) bond-led, -stript (stripped of bonds) adjs.; (sense 7) bond-friend; (sense 9) bond-creditor, -debt; (sense 13) bond-piece; bond-stone = BONDER; bond-timber (see quot.). Also BOND-HOLDER. For bail bond, bond of caution, corroboration, manrent, presentation, relief, settlement, etc., see under BAIL sb.1 7, CAUTION, CORROBORATION, etc.
1710. Lond. Gaz., No. 4701/3. The Bond Creditors of Philip, late Earl of Pembroke … are desired … to bring their Bonds.
1768. Blackstone, Comm., III. 397. In order to strengthen a bond-creditor’s security.
1707. Lond. Gaz., No. 4343/8. The Bond-Creditors … are desired to meet the Administrator … to certifie their said *Bond Debts.
1858. Ld. St. Leonards, Handy Bk. Prop. Law, xxiv. 186. Where an estate of a deceased debtor is liable to a bond debt, which binds the heir.
1860. Rawlinson, Herodotus, VII. ccxxxvii. IV. 195. Speaking ill of Demaratus, who is my *bond-friend.
a. 1618. Sylvester, Du Bartas, Maidens Blush (1621), 843. The Father makes the Pile: Hereon he layes His *bond-led, blind-led Son.
1862. Smiles, Engineers, II. 29. The long pieces or stretchers were retained between the two headers or *bond-pieces.
1879. Cassell’s Techn. Educ., I. 98. *Bond-stones are stones placed with their greatest length going through the thickness of the wall.
1855. Singleton, Virgil, I. 274. The other … Uplifted to the stars his *bond-stript hands.
1823. P. Nicholson, Pract. Build., 219. *Bond-timbers, horizontal pieces, built in stone or brick walls, for strengthening them.
1785. Burke, Nab. Arcot’s Debts, Wks. IV. 233. So known and established a *bond-vendor, as the nabob of Arcot, one who keeps himself the largest bond warehouse in the world.
