• Flying Squid
    link
    113 months ago

    I don’t know if that’s always true, but this is not an exception to that.

    “right to hold property of another until debt is paid,” 1530s, from French lien “a band or tie” (12c.), from Latin ligamen “bond,” from ligare “to bind, tie” (from PIE root *leig- “to tie, bind”). The word was in Middle English in the literal sense “a bond, fetter,” also figuratively, “moral restraint.” also from 1530s

    https://www.etymonline.com/word/lien