entry
bundle
/ˈbʌndəl/A group of things tied or packaged together
From Proto-Indo-European bind (to tie).
from PIE root *bhendh- "to bind." The meaning "a lot of money" is
from Proto-Germanic *bund- (source also of German bündel "to bundle")
+1 more sourcefrom Middle Dutch bondel , diminutive of bond
+1 more sourcefrom Proto-Germanic *bund- (source also of German bündel "to bundle")
+1 more sourcefrom Proto-Germanic *bund- (source also of German bündel "to bundle")
Word Ancestry
from PIE root *bhendh- "to bind." The meaning "a lot of money" is
from Proto-Germanic *bund- (source also of German bündel "to bundle")
+1 more sourcefrom Middle Dutch bondel , diminutive of bond
+1 more sourcefrom Proto-Germanic *bund- (source also of German bündel "to bundle")
+1 more sourcefrom Proto-Germanic *bund- (source also of German bündel "to bundle")
Picture a medieval merchant tying several goods together so they could be carried as one: that practical knot is hiding inside bundle. The word probably traveled through Middle Dutch bondel, a diminutive of bond, while Old English had a closely related form, byndele; the two may have blended into the English word we know. Its deepest recorded ancestor is the reconstructed Indo-European root *bhendh-, “to bind,” which also gives English bind, bond, and band—and reaches surprisingly far into Sanskrit bandhati, “he binds.” By 1899, a bundle could mean a lot of money, and by 1938 a “bundle of nerves” pictured anxiety as a person tied up in mental knots. So when software companies sell a bundle, they are still practicing the oldest sales trick in the language: tie separate things together and offer them as one.
The Story
Picture a medieval merchant tying several goods together so they could be carried as one: that practical knot is hiding inside bundle. The word probably traveled through Middle Dutch bondel, a diminutive of bond, while Old English had a closely related form, byndele; the two may have blended into the English word we know. Its deepest recorded ancestor is the reconstructed Indo-European root *bhendh-, “to bind,” which also gives English bind, bond, and band—and reaches surprisingly far into Sanskrit bandhati, “he binds.” By 1899, a bundle could mean a lot of money, and by 1938 a “bundle of nerves” pictured anxiety as a person tied up in mental knots. So when software companies sell a bundle, they are still practicing the oldest sales trick in the language: tie separate things together and offer them as one.
Modern Usage
A street-drug quantity, commonly ten individual bags of heroin or fentanyl
Kin & Kindred
From 'bind'·to tie, fasten, or hold together
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Free Dictionary
Urban Dictionary
Wiktionary