ligare

Ligare is the Latin infinitive meaning "to bind" or "to tie." It derives from the Proto-Italic root lig- and is the source of many Romance-language verbs that express fastening, joining, or connecting objects or ideas. In classical Latin, ligare is used transitively to indicate binding or fastening.

In the modern Romance-language family, cognates reflect the same core idea of binding or joining. In French the cognate is lier; Italian legare; Spanish ligar; Portuguese ligar. All share senses of tying, uniting, or connecting, and some extend to figurative uses such as forming links or relationships.

In medical and scientific contexts, ligature refers to a binding or tying device or procedure, and ligaments are bands that bind bones together. These terms show how the root lig- remains productive across specialized vocabularies.

In English usage, ligare itself is rarely used outside historical or etymological discussion. Related terms such as ligature, ligament, and liaison derive from the same Latin root and are far more common in modern language.

The term ligare thus highlights how a single Latin verb seeded a family of words across European languages that express binding and linking, with enduring presence in vocabulary across multiple fields.