ligature

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ligature

opening notes of "The Star-Spangled Banner"

(lĭg'ə-chʊr', -chər)
n.

1. The act of tying or binding.
2. 1. A cord, wire, or bandage used for tying or binding.
   2. A thread, wire, or cord used in surgery to close vessels or tie off ducts.
   3. Something that unites; a bond.
3. A character, letter, or type, such as æ, combining two or more letters.
4. Music.
   1. A group of notes intended to be played or sung as one phrase.
   2. A curved line indicating such a phrase; a slur.
   3. A passage of notes sung by repeating the same syllable.
   4. A metal band that attaches the reed to the mouthpiece of the clarinet and related instruments.

tr.v., -tured, -tur·ing, -tures.
To ligate.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin ligātūra, from Latin ligātus, past participle of ligāre, to bind.]

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in printing, is a pair of letters printed in a joined form, e.g. æ. See digraph.

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Two or more typeface characters that are designed as a single unit (physically touch). Fi, ffi, ae and oe are common ligatures.

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noun

That which unites or binds: bond, knot, ligament, link, nexus, tie, vinculum, yoke. See connect.

A notational symbol of the kind used between the 12th century and the 16th that combines within itself two or more pitches and by its shape defines their rhythm. The earliest ligatures derived from the rising and falling two-note neume of chant notation. Ligatures were codified and systematized in the mid-13th century by Franco of Cologne; his rhythmic schemes for them were largely unchanged as long as ligatures remained in use. Ligatures became increasingly rare in the 15th century and virtually went out of use in the 16th, particularly as note values became shorter and the note-lengths signified by ligatures, mainly longs, breves/double whole-notes and semibreves/whole-notes, were used less than minims/half-notes and semiminims/quarter-notes. Ligatures still appear, however, in printed editions of the 16th century and even occasionally later.

The term ‘ligature’ is sometimes applied to a slur indicating that two or more notes are to be sung to the same syllable (although the earlier ligature, described above, did not necessarily carry that implication); it is sometimes applied to the tie. The term also signifies the metal band with screws by which the single reed of the clarinet or saxophone is attached to the mouthpiece.

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IN BRIEF: Anything that constricts, or serves for binding or tying.

They used a ligature to tie the pole to the tree.

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Any material, such as a thread or wire, used in surgery to tie off blood vessels to prevent bleeding, or to treat abnormalities in other parts of the body by constricting the tissues.

• cruciate l. — one in which the ligature material is passed around the vessel and surrounding tissue twice before being tied.

(lig'əachur)
n

1. a cord, thread, or fine wire tied around teeth for the purpose of holding a rubber dam in place on retained teeth with fractured roots or split crowns or on teeth that have been replanted. 2. a wire or threadlike substance used to tie a tooth to an orthodontic appliance or to another tooth.

For a list of words related to ligature, see:

• Tools and Equipment - ligature: nylon, wire, or catgut tied around structure to close or secure it to impede bleeding
• Building and Machine Parts - ligature: thread, wire, or small hoop that serves for binding or tying up
• Harmony, Melody, and Structure - ligature: slur
• Accessories - ligature: metal binding that holds reed on wind instrument
• Printing and Typefaces - ligature: character or type combining two or more letters, such as

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See words rhyming with "ligature."

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - bånd, bind, ligatur, underbinding, ombinding, omsnøring, tråd brugt til omsnøring, sammenstøbte bogstaver, dobbelttype
v. tr. - ligere

Nederlands (Dutch)
verbinding, verband (m.n. voor bloedende ader), aaneengegoten letters, verbindingsboog in muziek, koppeling, koppel-/ verbindingsteken, koppelen, af-/verbinden met ligatuur

Français (French)
n. - (Méd) ligature, (Typ) ligature, (Mus) liaison
v. tr. - (Méd) ligaturer, barrer une veine, (Typ) entrelacer (le o et le e)

Deutsch (German)
n. - Binde, Ligatur
v. - verbinden, abbinden

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - δεσμός, σύνδεσμος, λογόγραμμα, σύμπλεγμα γραμμάτων, (μουσ.) λιγκατούρα

Italiano (Italian)
legatura

Português (Portuguese)
n. - ligadura (f)

Русский (Russian)
перевязывать кровеносный сосуд, связь, перевязка кровеносного сосуда, нитка для перевязки кровеносного сосуда, лигатура

Español (Spanish)
n. - ligadura, ligado
v. tr. - atar, ligar

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - (läk.) ligatur, underbindning, ligatur (tråd), (boktr.) ligatur (bokstavsförbindelse), (mus.) ligatur, (bildl.) band

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
带子, 绳索, 结扎线, 连接物, 纽带, 连字, 缚, 结扎, 捆

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 帶子, 繩索, 結紮線, 連接物, 紐帶, 連字
v. tr. - 縛, 結紮, 捆

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 잡아 매기, 결찰, 잡아매는 것, 연결선
v. tr. - 잡아 매다 , 연결시키다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - ひも, 結び合わせるもの, 結紮糸, 合字, スラー, タイ, 連結線

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) الرباط وبخاصه خيط لربط الأوعيه الدمويه, رابطه, ربط, الحرف المزدوج المؤلف من حرفين متصلين‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮תחבושת, חוסם-עורקים בשעת ניתוח, קשת-קישור (מוסיקה), קשר, קשירה, אותיות מחוברות‬
v. tr. - ‮קשר‬

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