Etymology

unbind

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Today it means: To take bindings off. Full definition →

Middle English unbinden ← Old English unbindan ← Proto-West Germanic *andabindan
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The story

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*andabindaną
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*andabindan
  3. Old English · inherited fromunbindan
  4. Middle English · inherited fromunbinden
  5. English todayunbind

From Middle English unbinden, from Old English unbindan, onbindan (“to unbind; untie”), from Proto-West Germanic *andabindan, from Proto-Germanic *andabindaną, equivalent to un- + bind. Cognate with Dutch ontbinden, German entbinden, Gothic 𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌱𐌹𐌽𐌳𐌰𐌽 (andbindan).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.