To tie, fasten, or hold things together with rope, string, or other material; also means something that restrains or restricts.
From Old English bindan, related to German binden. The word is ancient, appearing in Proto-Indo-European and related to Sanskrit bandh-. It has meant 'to tie together' for thousands of years.
Bookbinding—the craft of binding pages into a book—is a 1,000+ year-old art form where master binders could tell their stories through decorative leather and thread patterns. Medieval scribes sometimes hid secret messages in their binding techniques!
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