δεσμός, ὁ,
plural δεσμά [[ “hymnus ad Mercurium” 157, +others, 6th c.BC: Theognis Elegiacus 459, 5th c.BC: Herodotus Historicus 6.91 ] Refs 6th c.BC+], and so mostly in Trag., [[ 4th-5th c.BC: Aeschylus Tragicus “Prometheus Vinctus” 513, etc., and 5th-6th c.BC: Plato Philosophus “Euthyphro” 9a; but δεσμοί 4th-5th c.BC: Aeschylus Tragicus “Prometheus Vinctus” 525, 5th c.BC: Euripides Tragicus “Bacchae” 518, 634, usually in 5th-6th c.BC: Plato Philosophus, as “Lg.” 793b, +others] Refs 5th c.BC+]: both forms in Attic dialect Inscrr., δεσμοί [[ “IG” 2.678 B 48, δεσμά [prev. work] 791.31,] Refs] the latter preferred by [[ 6th c.AD: Thomas Epigrammaticus Mag. p.79R. (_sing._ δεσμόν “SIG” 246 ii 36 (Delph.)] Refs 6th c.AD+], Attic dialect accusative to [[ 5th c.AD(?): Hesychius Legal icographus): (δέω A)] Refs 5th c.AD+]:—band, bond, anything for tying and fastening, as halter, [[ 8th c.BC: Ilias Homerus Epicus “Illiad” 6.507 ] Refs 8th c.BC+]; mooring-cable, [[ 8th c.BC: Odyssea Homerus Epicus “Odyssey” 13.100, etc.] Refs 8th c.BC+]; door-latch, [[ 21.241 ] Refs]; yoke-strap, [[ 5th-6th c.BC: Xenophon Historicus “Anabasis” 3.5.10 ] Refs 5th c.BC+]: metaphorically, any bond of union or connexion, [[ 5th-6th c.BC: Plato Philosophus “Timaeus” 31c, etc. ] Refs 5th c.BC+]; of the vowels, [[ [prev. author] “Sph.” 253a ] Refs]; δεσμοὶ πολιτείας, of the laws, [[ [prev. author] “Lg.” 793b ] Refs]; εἰς τὰ δεσμοῦ for binding material, [[ PTeb. 120.70 (1st c.BC). ] Refs 1st c.BC+]
__2 in plural (never δεσμά in this sense), bonds, chains, ἐκ δεσμῶν λυθῆναι [[ 4th-5th c.BC: Aeschylus Tragicus “Prometheus Vinctus” 509, 770 ] Refs 4th c.BC+]; πρὶν ἂν ἐξ ἀγρίων δ. χαλάσῃ[[ [prev. work] 177; ἐν δεσμοῖσι 5th c.BC: Sophocles Tragicus “Fragmenta” 63; εἰς δεσμοὺς ἄγειν 5th c.BC: Euripides Tragicus “Bacchae” 518; δεσμοῖς 5th c.BC: Thucydides Historicus 7.82 ] Refs 5th c.BC+]; ὁ ἐπὶ τῶν δ., ={δεσμοφύλαξ}, [[ 2nd c.AD: Lucianus Sophista “Tox.” 29 ] Refs 2nd c.AD+]: in singular, collectively, bonds, imprisonment, δ. ἀχλυόεις epigram cited in [[ 5th c.BC: Herodotus Historicus 5.77 (= “IG” 12.394); οὐδὲν ἄξιον δεσμοῦ 5th c.BC: Herodotus Historicus 3.145; ἐν. δ. 5th c.BC: Sophocles Tragicus “Antigone” 958; ἐν δημοσίῳ δ. δεθείς 5th-6th c.BC: Plato Philosophus “Leges” 864e; ἔδησεν ἑαυτὸν τιμησάμενος δεσμοῦ 5th c.BC: Lysias Orator 6.21 ] Refs 5th c.BC+]: metaphorically of moral bondage, [[ 3rd c.AD: Porphyrius Tyrius Philosophus “de Abstinentia - Porphyrii Opuscula” 1.38, +others ] Refs 3rd c.AD+]