ligature

lI gə chər

noun

1. a band or tie used to connect, esp. a surgical stitch.
example: A silk ligature is tied around the duodenum five millimeters below the pylorus.

2. in printing, two letters joined in one type.
example: The ampersand (&) is actually a ligature of et, the Latin word for “and.”

3. a binding or tying of any sort.
example: The ligature marks on the victim’s neck suggest strangulation.

transitive verb

to tie up or bind with a ligature.
example: The surgeon ligatured the ruptured artery.

Illustration of typographic ligatures