ligature Definition
liga·ture (lig′ə c̸hər)
noun
- a tying or binding together
- a thing used in tying or binding together; tie, bond, etc.
- a written or printed character containing two or more letters united, as æ,fl,t̸h
- a curved line connecting such letters in writing
- Music
- in medieval mensural notation, a symbol representing two or more notes
- a curved line joining two or more notes in a tie or slur
- the notes so connected
- Surgery a thread or wire used to tie up an artery, etc.
Etymology: ME < MFr < LL ligatura < pp. of L ligare, to bind < IE base *leiĝ-, to bind > MLowG līk, a tie, MHG geleich, joint, Alb lidhe, a bond
transitive verb -·tured, -·tur·ing
to tie or bind together with a ligature; ligate
ligature Synonyms
ligature Usage Examples
Preposition: of
artery: He described the ligature of arteries long before Ambrose Pare.
Converse of object
- use: He also found that bleeding could be stopped by using a ligature.
- tie: Even tho they knew they were being watched the women still tried to tie ligatures around their necks.
- remove: The officer removed the ligature and provided first aid which saved the mans life.
- call: Also, in some scripts, certain character sequences can be represented by a single shape, called a ligature.
- make: Do you know if it's all possible to make a ligature from the letters g and s?
- have: She had sustained multiple scalp wounds and had a ligature around her neck, although the ligature had not caused her death.
Adjective modifier
proximal: The distal ligature is knotted and the ends of the proximal ligature are held without knotting.
Modifies a noun
point: Even where a fixed track provides no ligature points, heavy weights can be suspended from the curtains.
Noun used with modifier
fi: DOn't worry what that actually means, the end result is all of the fl and fi ligatures became big dots!
Browse dictionary entries near ligature
- ‹ ligate
- ‹ ligase
- ‹ ligand
- ‹ ligan
- ‹ ligament
- ‹ liftoff
- ‹ lifting body
- ‹ liftgate
- ‹ lifter
- ‹ lift pump
- liger ›
- light ›
- light adaptation ›
- light air ›
- light-armed ›
- light bread ›
- light breeze ›
- light carrier ›
- light detector ›
- light-emitting diode ›

