What is this word that has four different meanings?

[Whatisthisword]

I was reading an article the other day about a word that has four different meanings and each meaning has a different root but I've forgotten what the word is. I think it's a fairly simple word like 'cake' and I think it might be the only English word that has four different meanings from four completely separate roots.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Reddit says it is bound.

Charge - in battle when everyone rushes forwards, yelling "God for Harry!"
Charge - the person in charge is the authority. Almost the same context but my "charge" is a person I am responsible for, and if you are a witness at a trial then I charge you as God is your witness to tell the Truth.
I charge my phone battery, and it has charge, similar to an electron having a negative charge.
I charge you £5 for the cake I made for you.
I charge you with murder because I found your fingerprints on the weapon

Bow?
Ship's bow
Bow and arrow
Bow to the King
Bow in your hair
Bough of a tree
Bow wow dog noise
Violin bow

I think it !might have been on one of those 'Random Interesting Facts' lists on BoredPanda in the last few weeks but I might have clicked a link then another link... I've searched my history to no avail.

It’s sole. Quite confident. Or if it’s not, sole also has four meanings with four different etymologies.

Both "bow" and "row" have different pronunciation depending on meaning.

But sole meanings 1 and 4 given both mean ‘only, alone’ so that is only three distinct definitions given in the above post.

Set usually wins, with 18 meanings - set an exam, social set, set of plates, mathematical set, set something down, set something in motion, set in tennis, set in the 12th century, movie set, set the hounds on him ...

Language is weird

Row? Verb x2 (to row a boat; to row with a neighbour)
noun x3 (a row of bollards; A street name - Saville Row; a succession of something : four wins in a row)

Case?

Case the joint
Case of wine
Legal case
Case in point

But it’s legal usage has evolved separately and distinctly.

Court?
court (a place to play sports)
court (a place for legal trials)
court (a group of advisors)
court (as in courting someone)

I’d go for BEAR as well:

~ a large animal
~ support the weight of something
~ give birth
~ take a turn

All spelt and pronounced the same but different meanings.

Lime has many meanings.

1. a colour
2. a fruit
3. a genus of trees that have nothing to do with the citrus fruit
4. various calcium compounds

I did read recently that Lake (one meaning) but came into English from two separate routes from two different Proto-IndiEuropean words (with different meanings).

@Whatisthisword

Chat GPT tells me..

A great example of an English word that has four different meanings, four different etymological roots, but is spelled the same is:
"Palm"

Here are the four distinct meanings and roots:
Palm (of the hand)
Meaning: The inner surface of the hand between the wrist and fingers.
Etymology: From Latin palma (palm of the hand).

Palm (tree)
Meaning: A tropical tree with large, feathered or fan-shaped leaves.
Etymology: From Old English palm or Latin palma, referring to the resemblance of the leaves to a hand.

Palm (as in to conceal or steal)
Meaning: To hide something in the hand or steal it secretly.
Etymology: Derived from the noun "palm" (hand), used as a verb in late Middle English.

Palm (as in a prize or honor)
Meaning: A symbol of victory or triumph (e.g., "to bear the palm").
Etymology: From the ancient Roman practice of awarding palm branches as victory symbols — again from Latin palma.

Note: While some of these share the Latin palma as a root, the meanings diverged enough to be considered distinct in use, and some scholars consider the tree and victory usages to have evolved independently in certain contexts

They are not different meanings.

Homophone?

Cell?
• mobile phone
• basic unit of a living organism
• room in a prison
• unit of a spreadsheet
• battery

I suppose you could argue that 2, 3 and 4 are the same thing in the sense that they both describe a discrete bounded thing... and I suppose that might be the same for 5 too.

Big fan of 'cleave' which means both 'split apart' and 'cling to' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contronym)

Jo

It's vaguely ringing a bell OP and I think it's the fact the meanings all come from different routes/roots that is key.

Could it have been etymologynerd on instagram? I learned about "broadcast " being about seeds on there!

One possibility, nicked from Reddit

Sound... multiple different words, each with their own etymologies.
Sound like "Stop children, what's that sound?" Comes out of Latin.
Sound like "Safe and Sound" comes from German "Sund" meaning "health", as-in "gesundheit" Or "Be healthy".
Sound like "Puget Sound" comes from Old Norse meaning "a strait, swimming"... effectively a channel of water one can swim across.
Sound like "Sound the depths" comes from Old French "sonder".

is it a homophone?

God.

What do you mean they're not different meanings?

Weather, Wether, or oop norf Wever….