bond

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the property of sticking together, as of glue and wood, or the joining of surfaces of different composition

   We should bond these pieces together.

2. 2
   noun

   a certificate of debt, usually interest-bearing or discounted, that is issued by a government or corporation in order to raise money

   Our advisor felt that bonds were a safe investment.

3. 3
   verb

   to stick to firmly

   I bond the two parts together with glue.

4. 4
   verb

   to bring together in a common cause or emotion

   We bonded over our love of football.

5. 5
   verb

   to issue bonds on

   Some new investors bonded the city's municipal fund.

6. 6
   verb

   to create social or emotional ties

   The grandparents want to bond with the child.

7. 7
   noun

   A documentary obligation to pay a sum or to perform a contract; a debenture.

   Investors face a quandary. Cash offers a return of virtually zero in many developed countries; government-bond yields may have risen in recent weeks but they are still unattractive. Equities have suffered two big bear markets since 2000 and are wobbling again. It is hardly surprising that pension funds, insurers and endowments are searching for new sources of return.

8. 8
   noun

   A physical connection which binds, a band.

   The prisoner was brought before the tribunal in iron bonds.

Etymology

From Middle English bonde (“peasant, servant, bondman”), from Old English bōnda, būnda (“householder, freeman, plebeian, husband”), perhaps from Old Norse bóndi (“husbandman, householder”, literally “dweller”), or a contraction of Old English būend (“dweller, inhabitant”), both from Proto-Germanic *būwandz (“dweller”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- (“to become, grow, appear”). See also bower, boor.