Etymologically
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annex

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Pronunciation

Etymology

The verb is inherited from Middle English annexen,[2][3] borrowed from Anglo-Norman annexer, also Middle French annexer (“to add to a document; to attach”),[4][2][5][6] and partly directly borrowed from Latin annectō (“to tie on, fasten, attach”), through its past participle stem annex-.[4][6][7] The Anglo-Norman verb is recorded from 1294.[8] Etymonline, Barnhart and Collins route it through Medieval Latin annexō.[9][10][11] The Latin verb is formed from ad- (“to”) and nectō (“to tie, bind”),[4][2][12][13] from Proto-Indo-European *ned- (“to bind, tie”).[9][2] The noun is borrowed from Middle French annexe (“something joined, an addition”), probably the noun use of the past participle annexe, from Latin annexus (“attached, joined”).[4][7][14]

Earliest recorded meaning

To attach or join one thing to another: about 1370, in Chaucer's Pity, according to Barnhart;[10] the revised OED's first record is from 1395, in the Twelve Conclusions of the Lollards, for attaching something as an attribute or adjunct.[4]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline notes that the verb usually means to join in a subordinate capacity, though that idea is not in its origin.[9] It was used for adding an appendix to a document from 1397, for joining a building or property to another from 1426, and for adding land to one's territory from 1449;[4] Etymonline dates the territorial use to about 1400.[9] Later came the slang sense "to steal, make off with" (1865) and, in sport, "to win" (1872).[4] The noun first meant a minor property attached to a larger one, in Scots law (1499), then an accessory (about 1541) and an addition to a document (1625).[4][10] The sense "subsidiary building" is first recorded in 1829 in the OED,[4] but only in 1861 in Etymonline.[9] Ayto notes that in this sense the noun keeps its French -e.[15]

Timeline

  • c. 1370 – verb, to join, in Chaucer.[10]
  • 1395 – to attach as an attribute or adjunct.[4]
  • 1397 – to add to a written document.[4]
  • 1449 – to add land or a nation to one's territory.[4]
  • 1499 – noun, a property attached to a larger one (Scots law).[4]
  • 1625 – noun, an addition to a document.[4]
  • 1829 – noun, a subsidiary building.[4]
  • 1865 – verb, to steal or appropriate.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To add a territory to one's own, especially by conquest or occupation: The kingdom annexed the neighbouring duchy.[11][16][4]
  2. To join or attach something, especially to something larger.[11][16]
  3. To add a condition or a document to another as an appendix.[11][16][4]
  4. To take something without permission; to appropriate.[11][4]

Noun

  1. A building added to or standing near a larger one, giving extra space: The library opened an annex for its archives.[11][16][4]
  2. Something added, especially a supplement or appendix to a document or treaty.[16][4]

Word family

  • annexation
  • annexational
  • annexationism
  • annexationist
  • annexable
  • unannexed
  • reannex

Usage notes

Collins gives annex as the usual American spelling of the noun annexe.[11] The verb is stressed on the second syllable, the noun on the first.[11][4]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  3. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  9. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  10. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  12. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  13. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  14. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  15. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  16. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster