Etymology From Middle English bound, bund (preterite) and bounden, bunden, ibunden, ȝebunden (past participle), from Old English bund- and bunden, ġebunden respectively. See bind.
1
With infinitive Obliged (to).
You are not legally bound to reply.
Well, it isn't for me to say. I'm an employee of the firm and bound to stand by it.1927, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], Max Carrados Mysteries:
1 more example
Then I had a good think on the subject of the hocussing of Cigarette, and I was reluctantly bound to admit that once again the man in the corner had found the only possible solution to the mystery.1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Hocussing of Cigarette”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020:
2
Human sciences, Linguistics, SciencesOf a morpheme That cannot stand alone as a free word.
Etymology From Middle English bounde, from Old French bunne, from Medieval Latin bodina, earlier butina (“a bound, limit”).
1
Often, Used in plural A boundary, the border which one must cross in order to enter or leave a territory.
I reached the northern bound of my property, took a deep breath and walked on.
Somewhere within these bounds you may find a buried treasure.
2 more examples
Wyth cry unreverent, Before the sacrament, Wythin the holy church bowndis, That of our fayth the grownd is.c. 1503–1512, John Skelton, Ware the Hauke; republished in John Scattergood, editor, John Skelton: The Complete English Poems, 1983, →OCLC, page 62, lines 11–14:
It was sung from the top of the oldest house in the burgh every June at the Common riding, which served both for a perambulation of the bounds of the common pastures or Haughs and to commemorate the young men of Harwick[.]1977, K.M. Elizabeth Murray, Caught in the Web of Words, Oxford: Oxford University Press, page 27:
2
Mathematics, Sciences A value which is known to be greater or smaller than a given set of values.
Etymology From Middle English bounden, from the noun (see above).
1
To surround a territory or other geographical entity; to form the boundary of.
grounds bounded on three sides by a river.
France, Portugal, Gibraltar and Andorra bound Spain.
4 more examples
Kansas is bounded by Nebraska on the north, Missouri on the east, Oklahoma on the south and Colorado on the west.
I should like to know whether anyone belonging to the houses that bound the line there came of age or got married on the twenty-sixth of November.1914, Ernest Bramah, Max Carrados:
Mexico is bounded on the north by the United States of America, whose frontier is marked as follows: from the mouth of the Rio Bravo, or Rio Grande del Norte, following the course of the river to the parallel of 31° 47'; […]1884, Alfred Ronald Conkling, Appleton's Guide to Mexico, page 25:
The Scottish Region is issuing a Day Rail-Rover Ticket, available at 12 hours' notice, permitting unlimited travel in an area bounded by Edinburgh, St. Andrews, Dundee, Perth, Comrie, Callander, Stirling and Falkirk for 25s. (children, 12s. 6d.). . . .1960 September, “Talking of Trains: News in Brief”, in Trains Illustrated, page 523:
Etymology From Middle English bownde, alternation (with -d partly for euphonic effect and partly by association with Etymology 1 above) of Middle English boun, from Old Norse búinn, past participle of búa (“to prepare”).
This certain,—that a band of war / Has for two days been ready boune, / At prompt command to march from Doune […].1810, The Lady of the Lake, Walter Scott, 4.III:
2
Ready to start or go (to); moving in the direction (of).
Which way are you bound? —I'm already homeward bound.
Is that message bound for me?
2 more examples
Ar. […]and for the reſt o'th' Fleet / (Which I diſpers'd) they all haue met againe, / And are vpon the Mediterranean Flote / Bound ſadly home for Naples, / Suppoſing that they ſaw the Kings ſhip wrackt, / And his great perſon periſh.1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii], page 4:
So long, honey babe / Where I'm bound, I can't tell / Goodbye's too good a word, babe / So I'll just say "fare thee well"1962, Bob Dylan, “Don't Think Twice, It's All Right”:
3
With infinitive Very likely (to), certain to
They were bound to come into conflict eventually.
When you're well enough off so's you don't have to fret about anything but your heft or your diseases you begin to get queer, I suppose. And the queerer the cure for those ailings the bigger the attraction. A place like the Right Livers' Rest was bound to draw freaks, same as molasses draws flies.1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter V, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
1 more example
Don’t go around tonight— / Well, it’s bound to take your life: / There’s a bad moon on the rise.1969, Creedence Clearwater Revival, “Bad Moon Rising”:
Etymology From Middle English *bounden (attested as bounten), from French bondir (“leap", "bound", originally "make a loud resounding noise”); perhaps from Late Latin bombitāre (“hum, buzz”), frequentative verb, from Latin bombus (“a humming or buzzing”).
Balzo, a bound of a ball1598, John Florio, “Balzo”, in A Worlde of Words, or Most Copious, and Exact Dictionarie in Italian and English, […], London: […] Arnold Hatfield for Edw[ard] Blount, →OCLC:
Derived terms
by leaps and bounds
bound
verb
Etymology From Middle English *bounden (attested as bounten), from French bondir (“leap", "bound", originally "make a loud resounding noise”); perhaps from Late Latin bombitāre (“hum, buzz”), frequentative verb, from Latin bombus (“a humming or buzzing”).
1
To leap, move by jumping.
The rabbit bounded down the lane.
But when I turn away, / Thou, willing me to stay, / Wooest not, nor vainly wranglest; / But, looking fixedly the while, / All my bounding heart entanglest, / In a golden-netted smile; […]1842, Alfred Tennyson, “Madeleine”, in Poems. […], volume I, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, stanza 3, page 19:
1 more example
They make love, he hauls her to the bath, washes her, hauls her out and dries her, and twenty minutes later Mary and Magnus are bounding across the little park on the top of Döbling like the happy couple they nearly are, past the sandpits and the climbing frame that Tom is too big for, past the elephant cage where Tom kicks his football, down the hill towards the Restaurant Teheran which is their improbable pub because Magnus so adores the black and white videos of Arab romances they play for you with the sound down while you eat your couscous and drink your Kalterer.1986, John le Carré, A Perfect Spy:
2
To cause to leap.
to bound a horse
[…] Or if I might buffet for my Loue, or bound my Horſe for her fauours, I could lay on like a Butcher, and fit like a Iack an Apes, neuer off., Act V, Scene II, page 93