Bond (finance)
Etymology
From Old English "bond" / "band", something that binds, the same root as "bind" and "band". A bond is a binding promise to repay: the borrower is legally bound to pay the holder interest and, eventually, the principal. The word’s core sense of a tie or obligation carries straight into finance.
noun · /BOND/
A loan made by an investor to a government or company, which pays regular interest and returns the sum at a set date.
What it names
The investment where you are the lender — lending your money out for steady, contractual interest rather than buying a piece of ownership.
Example
Nearing retirement, she shifted savings from stocks into bonds for steadier, lower-risk income.
Related idea
Distinguish stock: a bond makes you a lender who is owed fixed payments, while a stock makes you a part-owner sharing in profits and losses — bondholders get paid before shareholders if a company fails.
noun · /BOND/
A close emotional connection or sense of attachment between people.
What it names
The felt tie of loyalty and affection — between friends, parent and child, teammates — rather than a financial IOU.
Example
The months of shared hardship forged a deep bond between the crew.
Related idea
Close to kinship and sustained by loyalty — the felt tie between friends, family, or teammates, not the financial IOU that shares the word.
noun · /BOND/
The force of attraction that holds atoms together in a molecule or compound.
What it names
The ‘glue’ of chemistry — the link, whether covalent or ionic, that binds atoms into stable structures.
Example
Breaking the bonds in glucose releases the energy a cell needs.
Related idea
When atoms bond in fixed proportions they form a compound built from pure elements. This is a literal binding, unlike the financial bond (a loan) or the emotional bond (a tie between people).