ligature
/ˈlɪɡət͡ʃɚ/
ligature noun: the act of tying or binding something.
Noun
ligature (countable and uncountable, plural ligatures)
- The act of tying or binding something.
- A cord or similar thing used to tie something; especially the thread used in surgery to close a vessel or duct.
- anti-ligature clothing
- I likewiſe felt ſeveral ſlender Ligatures acroſs my Body, from my Armpits to my Thighs. I could only look upwards, the Sun began to grow hot, and the Light offended mine Eyes.1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “The Author Gives Some Account of Himself and Family, His First Inducements to Travel. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s...
- A thread or wire used to remove tumours, etc.
- The state of being bound or stiffened; stiffness.
- the ligature of a joint
- A character that visually combines multiple letters, such as æ, œ, ß or ij; also logotype. Sometimes called a typographic ligature.
- A linker word that is classified as a separate part of speech, usually present in Philippine languages.
- A group of notes played as a phrase, or the curved line that indicates such a phrase.
- A curve or line connecting notes; a slur.
- A piece used to hold a reed to the mouthpiece on woodwind instruments.
- Any binding, uniting, or restraining principle or agency.
- A spell or charm that induces sexual impotence.
- The Roman epic poet Vergil refers to the incapacitating effects of ligatures, while Ovid, the erotic poet, admits the power of such spell-bindings.1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 90
Verb
ligature (third-person singular simple present ligatures, present participle ligaturing, simple past and past participle ligatured)
ligature meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
ligature in Hindi
- typography: character that combines multiple letters
- संयुक्ताक्षर sãyuktākṣar
ligature in Tamil
- typography: character that combines multiple letters
- கூட்டெழுத்து kūṭṭeḻuttu
ligature in Urdu
- پٹی
ligature in Bengali
- typography: character that combines multiple letters
- যুক্তাক্ষর juktakkhor, যুক্তবর্ণ juktoborno
More languagesFewer languages
- ligature in Malayalam
- കൂട്ടക്ഷരം kūṭṭakṣaraṁ
- ligature in Kannada
- ಕಟ್ಟು, ನೂಲು, ಎಳೆ
- ligature in Odia
- ମାତ୍ରା mātrā
- ligature in Sanskrit
- बन्ध bandhá
- ligature in Tagalog
- pang-angkop
- ligature in Thai
- ตัวแฝด dtuua-fɛ̀ɛt
Examples of ligature in a sentence
- He – keen on diphthongy things – really liked words with ligatures.
- The ligature dents on Larry's neck swelled red in the unvisored sun.
- Ligatures are very few: ae in the old uncial and e-caudata forms, st, and et.
Forms of ligature
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | ligatures |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | ligatures |
| present participle | ligaturing |
| past participle | ligatured |
| past | ligatured |
Origin of ligature
From Middle English ligature, from Middle French ligature, from Late Latin ligātūra, from ligāre (“to tie, bind”).
Words formed from ligature
Phrases with ligature
Questions about ligature
- What does ligature mean?
- Ligature means the act of tying or binding something.
- What is ligature in Hindi?
- Ligature in Hindi is संयुक्ताक्षर (sãyuktākṣar). See Ligature meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is ligature?
- Ligature can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce ligature?
- Ligature is pronounced /ˈlɪɡət͡ʃɚ/ (US).
- What is the plural of ligature?
- The plural of ligature is ligatures.
Words near ligature in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: ligature (page history and authors); ligature (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ligature (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ମାତ୍ରା (Odia) (page history and authors); बन्ध (Sanskrit) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vininn126-ligature.wav.
Cite this entry: “ligature.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ligature. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.