# ligament
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English ligament, from Latin ligāmentum, from ligō (“tie, bind”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈlɪɡəmənt/
* Audio (US):(file)

### Noun

ligament (plural ligaments)
* (anatomy) A band of strong tissue that connects bones to other bones.
** 1846, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Christmas Banquet”, in Mosses from an Old Manse:It so chanced that at this juncture the decayed ligaments of the skeleton gave way, and the dry bones fell together in a heap, thus causing the dusty wreath of cypress to drop upon the table.
* (figurative) That which binds or acts as a ligament.
** 1795 July, Alexander Hamilton, “The Defence of the Funding System”, in edited by Harold C. Syrett, The Papers of Alexander Hamilton‎, volume 19, New York: Columbia University Press, published 1973, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 40:It remains to mention one consideration which naturally occurred in the reflections upon the expediency of assuming the State Debts. This is its tendency to strengthen our infant Government by increasing the number of ligaments between the Government and the interests of Individuals.
** 1845, Daniel Webster, oration on Justice Joseph Story
    Justice is the ligament which holds civilized beings and civilized nations together.

#### Derived terms

* acrocoracohumeral ligament
* anterolateral ligament
* broad ligament
* capsular ligament
* cruciate ligament
* falciform ligament
* Hensing's ligament
* inguinal ligament
* lienophrenic ligament
* ligamental
* ligamentary
* ligamentous
* Lisfranc ligament
* medial collateral ligament
* oblique ligament
* ovarian ligament
* patellar ligament
* periodontal ligament
* phrenicolienal ligament
* phrenicosplenic ligament
* Poupart's ligament
* round ligament
* spring ligament
* stylohyoid ligament
* suspensory ligament
* uterosacral ligament

#### See also

* sinew
* tendon

### Anagrams

* tegminal

## French
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ligāmentum, from ligō (“tie, bind”). Cf. also liement, possibly an inherited doublet.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /li.ɡa.mɑ̃/
* Audio:(file)
* Audio (Switzerland):(file)

### Noun

ligament m (plural ligaments)
* ligament

#### Related terms

* lier

### Further reading

* “ligament”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

## Middle English
### Alternative forms

* lygament

### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ligāmentum.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /liˈɡaːmɛnt/, /ˈliɡamɛnt/

### Noun

ligament (plural ligamentes)
* A ligament or similar connecting tissue (e.g. a tendon)
* (rare) That which binds.

#### Descendants

* English: ligament

#### References

* “ligā̆ment, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

## Romanian
### Etymology

Borrowed from French ligament, itself a borrowing from Latin ligāmentum, from ligō (“tie, bind”). By surface analysis, liga +‎ -ment. Compare legământ, an inherited doublet.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [li.ɡaˈment]

### Noun

ligament n (plural ligamente)
* ligament

#### Declension
## Swedish
### Noun

ligament n
* (anatomy) a ligament

#### See also

* ledband (“articular ligament”)
* sena (“tendon”)

### References

* ligament in Svensk ordbok (SO)
* ligament in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
* ligament in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)
* Svensk MeSH