Etymologically
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connect

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /kəˈnekt/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin cōnectere (“to join together”),[2][3][4] from com- (“together”) and nectere (“to bind, tie”),[3][2][5] from Proto-Indo-European *ned- (“to bind, tie”).[3] Barnhart notes that it may instead be a back-formation from connection, recorded about 1385.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To join, bind or fasten together: about 1440 in Barnhart, the mid-15th century in Etymonline.[2][3] NODE notes that it was rare before the 18th century.[6]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th and 17th centuries it was displaced by connex, from French connexer, and connect was re-established from the 1670s.[3][2] To associate in thought is from 1751,[7] and to establish a relationship from 1881.[3][7] Of trains or boats, to run in connection, is from 1856.[7] Slang “to get in touch with”, from telephone connections, is from 1926,[3] and of a blow, to reach its target, from about 1920.[3] To establish rapport with someone is from 1942.[3] Connection was spelt connexion until the -tion form prevailed in the 18th century, especially in American English.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1440 – to join together.[2]
  • 1670s – re-established after connex.[3]
  • 1856 – of trains.[7]
  • 1881 – to establish a relationship.[3]
  • 1926 – to get in touch with.[3]
  • 1942 – to establish rapport.[3]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To join or link two things together.
  2. To think of one thing as related to another.
  3. To join to a telephone, electricity or computer network.
  4. Of a train, bus or plane, to arrive in time for passengers to change to another.
  5. To have a good understanding with someone.

Word family

  • connectible
  • connectibility
  • connection
  • connector
  • connexion
  • connective
  • interconnect
  • misconnect
  • annex
  • nexus
  • disconnect
  • node

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press