bound

Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to: navigation, search
See also -bound

Contents

English [edit]

Alternative forms [edit]

Pronunciation [edit]

Etymology 1 [edit]

See bind

Verb [edit]

bound

  1. simple past tense and past participle of bind
    • 1905, Baroness Emmuska Orczy, chapter 1, The Fate of the Artemis[1]:
      “[…] Captain Markam had been found lying half-insensible, gagged and bound, on the floor of the sitting-room, his hands and feet tightly pinioned, and a woollen comforter wound closely round his mouth and neck ; whilst Mrs. Markham's jewel-case, containing valuable jewellery and the secret plans of Port Arthur, had disappeared. […]”
    I bound the splint to my leg.
    I had bound the splint with duct tape.

Adjective [edit]

bound (not comparable)

  1. (with infinitive) Obliged (to).
    • 1905, Baroness Emmuska Orczy, chapter 5, The Hocussing of Cigarette[2]:
      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.
    You are not legally bound to reply.
  2. (with infinitive) Very likely (to).
    They were bound to come into conflict eventually.
  3. (linguistics, of a morpheme) That cannot stand alone as a free word.
  4. (mathematics, logic, of a variable) Constrained by a quantifier.
Antonyms [edit]
  • (logic: constrained by a quantifier): free
Derived terms [edit]
Translations [edit]
obliged to
very likely to

Etymology 2 [edit]

From Middle English bounde, from Old French bunne, from Medieval Latin bodina, earlier butina (“a bound, limit”)

Noun [edit]

bound (plural bounds)

  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. (mathematics) a value which is known to be greater or smaller than a given set of values
Derived terms [edit]
terms derived from the noun bound ("boundary, limit")
Translations [edit]
boundary, border of territory
mathematics: value greater (or smaller) than a given set
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

Verb [edit]

bound (third-person singular simple present bounds, present participle bounding, simple past and past participle bounded)

  1. To surround a territory or other geographical entity.
    France, Portugal, Gibraltar and Andorra bound Spain.
    Kansas is bounded by Nebraska on the north, Missouri on the east, Oklahoma on the south and Colorado on the west.
  2. (mathematics) To be the boundary of.
Derived terms [edit]
terms derived from bound (verb: limit)
Translations [edit]
to surround a territory
mathematics: to be the boundary of

Etymology 3 [edit]

From French bondir (“to leap, bound, originally make a loud resounding noise”); perhaps, from Late Latin bombitāre, present active infinitive of bombitō (“hum, buzz”), frequentive verb, from Latin bombus (“a humming or buzzing”).

Noun [edit]

bound (plural bounds)

  1. A sizeable jump, great leap.
    The deer crossed the stream in a single bound.
Derived terms [edit]
Translations [edit]
sizeable jump

Verb [edit]

bound (third-person singular simple present bounds, present participle bounding, simple past and past participle bounded)

  1. (intransitive) To leap, move by jumping.
    The rabbit bounded down the lane.
  2. (transitive) To cause to leap.
    to bound a horse
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)
  3. (transitive, dated) To cause to rebound; to throw so that it will rebound; to bounce.
    to bound a ball on the floor
Derived terms [edit]
Translations [edit]
to leap

Etymology 4 [edit]

Alteration of boun, with -d partly for euphonic effect and partly by association with Etymology 1, above.

Adjective [edit]

bound (comparative more bound, superlative most bound)

  1. (obsolete) ready, prepared.
  2. ready, able to start or go (to); moving in the direction (of).
    Which way are you bound?
    Is that message bound for me?
Derived terms [edit]
terms derived from the adjective bound ("moving in the direction of")
Translations [edit]
ready, prepared
ready to start or go (to); moving in the direction (of)
constrained by something, or constrained to something

Statistics [edit]

Retrieved from "http://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=bound&oldid=20560772"