[lig.a.ture] n [ME, fr. MF, fr. LL ligatura, fr. L ligatus, pp. of ligare to bind, tie; akin to MLG lik band, boltrope, Alb lidh I tie] (14c) 1 a: something that is used to bind; specif: a filament (as a thread) used in surgery b: something that unites or connects: bond
2: the action of binding or tying
3: a compound note in mensural notation indicating a group of musical notes to be sung to one syllable
4: a printed or written character consisting of two or more letters or characters joined together