Lien

Pronunciation

• IPA: /liːn/, /lɪən/
• Homophones: lean (IPA: /liːn/)

Origin

From Middle French lien, from Latin ligāmen ("a bond"), from ligō ("tie, bind").

Noun

1. (obsolete) A tendon.
2. (legal) A legal claim; a charge upon real or personal property for the satisfaction of some debt or duty.
• 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin 2003, p. 7:Bodin deemed the king of France's power as absolute in the sense that the ruler was ‘absolved’ by divine sanction from legally binding liens and restrictions.

Derived terms

• lienholder

Full definition of lien

Verb

1. (Bible, archaic) Alternative form of lainIf no man have lien with thee, and if thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness, being under thy husband, be thou free from this water of bitterness that causeth the curse...

Anagrams

• LEIN
• line
• Neil
• Nile