lien

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Middle French lien, from Latin ligāmen (“a bond”), from ligō (“tie, bind”).

noun

1. (obsolete) A tendon.
2. (law) A right to take possession of a debtor’s property as security until a debt or duty is discharged.
   […] every youth movement presents itself as loan to the future, and tries to call in its lien in advance, but when there is no future all loans are canceled. 1989, Greil Marcus, Lipstick Traces, Faber & Faber, published 2009
   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. 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 7

Etymology 2

verb

1. (biblical, archaic) Alternative form of lain

Etymology 3

Borrowed from Latin lien (“spleen”). Doublet of spleen.

noun

1. (uncommon, possibly obsolete) The spleen.
   Li'enal. Pertaining to the lien or spleen; splenic. 1892, John Marie Keating, Henry Hamilton, John Chalmers Da Costa, A New Pronouncing Dictionary of Medicine
   The lien or spleen (figs. 282 to 285) is a soft, highly vascular contractile and very elastic organ of a dark purplish colour. It is placed obliquely behind the stomach, … 1914, Quain's Elements of Anatomy, volume 1, page 312