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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

band.

A strip of material used for strengthening or coupling.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/bænd/Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation[beənd] ~ [bɛənd]/band/British, Northern-England, Scotland, Southern, Standard, Wales/bæːnd/Australia
  1. A strip of material used for strengthening or coupling. A strip of material wrapped around things to hold them together.

  2. A strip of material used for strengthening or coupling. A narrow strip of cloth or other material on clothing, to bind, strengthen, or ornament it.

  3. A strip of material used for strengthening or coupling. A strip along the spine of a book where the pages are attached.

  4. A strip of material used for strengthening or coupling. A belt or strap that is part of a machine.

  5. A long strip of material, color, etc, that is different from the surrounding area.

    sandstone with bands of shale
  6. A strip of decoration. A continuous tablet, stripe, or series of ornaments, as of carved foliage, of colour, or of brickwork.

  7. A strip of decoration. In Gothic architecture, the moulding, or suite of mouldings, which encircles the pillars and small shafts.

  8. That which serves as the means of union or connection between persons; a tie.

  9. A linen collar or ruff worn in the 16th and 17th centuries.

  10. Two strips of linen hanging from the neck in front as part of a clerical, legal, or academic dress.

    in-plural
  11. A part of the electromagnetic spectrum.

  12. A part of the electromagnetic spectrum. A designated range of radio frequencies used for wireless communication.

  13. A group of energy levels in a solid state material.

    valence band;  conduction band
  14. A bond.

    obsolete
  15. Pledge; security.

    obsolete
  16. A ring, such as a wedding ring (wedding band), or a ring put on a bird's leg to identify it.

    US · especially
  17. Any distinguishing line formed by chromatography, electrophoresis etc

  18. Ellipsis of band cell.

    abbreviation · alt-of · ellipsis
  19. A wad of money totaling $1K, held together by a band; (by extension) $1000, a grand; (by extension) money

    in-plural · often · slang
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ-der. Proto-Germanic *bandiz Old English bend Middle English band English band Inherited from Middle English band (also bond), from Old English beand, bænd, bend (“bond, chain, fetter, band, ribbon, ornament, chaplet, crown”), from Proto-Germanic *bandą, *bandiz (“band, fetter”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ- (“to tie, bind”). Middle English band reinforced by Old French bande. Cognate with Dutch band, German Band, Danish bånd, Swedish band, Icelandic band (“band”). Related to bond, bind, bend.

verb/bænd/Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation[beənd] ~ [bɛənd]/band/British, Northern-England, Scotland, Southern, Standard, Wales/bæːnd/Australia
  1. To fasten with a band.

    transitive
  2. To fasten an identifying band around the leg of (a bird).

    transitive
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ-der. Proto-Germanic *bandiz Old English bend Middle English band English band Inherited from Middle English band (also bond), from Old English beand, bænd, bend (“bond, chain, fetter, band, ribbon, ornament, chaplet, crown”), from Proto-Germanic *bandą, *bandiz (“band, fetter”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ- (“to tie, bind”). Middle English band reinforced by Old French bande. Cognate with Dutch band, German Band, Danish bånd, Swedish band, Icelandic band (“band”). Related to bond, bind, bend.

noun/bænd/Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation[beənd] ~ [bɛənd]/band/British, Northern-England, Scotland, Southern, Standard, Wales/bæːnd/Australia
  1. A group of musicians who perform together as an ensemble; sometimes, such a group working for a professional recording artist.

    musical band
    session band
  2. A type of orchestra originally playing janissary music; an instance of this type.

  3. Ellipsis of marching band.

    abbreviation · alt-of · ellipsis
  4. A group of people loosely united for a common purpose, such as a band of thieves.

  5. A small group of people living in a simple society, contrasted with tribes, chiefdoms, and nations.

  6. Ellipsis of band government.

    Canada · abbreviation · alt-of · ellipsis
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ-der. Proto-Germanic *bandiz Old English bend Middle English bandder. English band Derived from Middle English band, from Old French bande, from Old Occitan banda (“regiment of troops”), perhaps from Frankish *bend, from Proto-Germanic *bandiz, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ- (“to tie; bond, band”). Compare German Bande (“band”).

verb/bænd/Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation[beənd] ~ [bɛənd]/band/British, Northern-England, Scotland, Southern, Standard, Wales/bæːnd/Australia
  1. To group together for a common purpose; to confederate.

    intransitive
  2. To group (students) together by perceived ability; to stream.

    transitive
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ-der. Proto-Germanic *bandiz Old English bend Middle English bandder. English band Derived from Middle English band, from Old French bande, from Old Occitan banda (“regiment of troops”), perhaps from Frankish *bend, from Proto-Germanic *bandiz, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ- (“to tie; bond, band”). Compare German Bande (“band”).

verb/bænd/Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation[beənd] ~ [bɛənd]/band/British, Northern-England, Scotland, Southern, Standard, Wales/bæːnd/Australia
  1. simple past and past participle of bind

    form-of · obsolete · participle · past
Where this word comes from

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

verb/bænd/Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation[beənd] ~ [bɛənd]/band/British, Northern-England, Scotland, Southern, Standard, Wales/bæːnd/Australia
  1. Obsolete form of bandy.

    alt-of · obsolete
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.