Legcuffs

Legcuffs are physical restraints used on the ankles of a person to allow walking only with a restricted stride and to prevent running and effective physical resistance.

Frequently used alternative terms are leg cuffs, (leg/ankle) shackles, footcuffs, fetters or leg irons. The term "fetter" shares a root with the word "foot".

With respect to humans, shackles are typically used on prisoners and slaves. Leg shackles also are used for chain gangs to keep them together.

Metaphorically, a fetter may be anything that restricts or restrains in any way, hence the word "unfettered".

History

The earliest fetters found in archaeological excavations date from the prehistoric age and are mostly of the puzzle lock type. Fetters are also referenced in ancient times in the Bible.

In the Scriptures the Hebrew word necho′sheth, usually meaning "copper," is frequently translated "fetters of copper" or "copper fetters," because fetters were often made of copper or bronze, although wood and iron were also employed. (2Sa 3:34; 2Ki 25:7) In the British Museum there is a pair of bronze fetters from Nineveh (the capital city of ancient Assyria) in the form of a bar with a ring at each end.

Fetter (Buddhism)

In Buddhism, a mental fetter, chain or bond (Pāli: samyojana, saŋyojana, saññojana) shackles a sentient being to saṃsāra, the cycle of lives with dukkha. By cutting through all fetters, one attains nibbāna (Pali; Skt.: nirvāṇa).

Fetter of suffering

Throughout the Pali canon, the word "fetter" is used to describe an intrapsychic phenomenon that ties one to suffering. For instance, in the Khuddaka Nikaya's Itivuttaka 1.15, the Buddha states:

Elsewhere, the suffering caused by a fetter is implied as in this more technical discourse from SN 35.232, where Ven. Sariputta converses with Ven. Kotthita:

Lists of fetters

The fetters are enumerated in different ways in the Pali canon's Sutta Pitaka and Abhidhamma Pitaka.

Sutta Pitaka's list of ten fetters

The Pali canon's Sutta Pitaka identifies ten "fetters of becoming":

Fetter (disambiguation)

Fetter and similar can mean:

Fetter as a Surname