connection

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kəˈnek.ʃᵊn/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English conneccion, also connexioun,^[2] borrowed from Old French connexion,^[2] and directly from Latin cōnexiō (“a binding or joining together”),^[2][3][4] from cōnexus, past participle of cōnectere (“to fasten together”),^[2][3] from com- (“together”) and nectere (“to bind, tie”),^[2] from Proto-Indo-European *ned- (“to bind, tie”).^[2] See connect.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The state or fact of being connected: the late 14th century in Etymonline,^[2] and the 14th century in Merriam-Webster.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The spelling shifted from connexion to connection in the mid-18th century, especially in American English, under the influence of connect and of pairs such as collect, collection;^[2][4] the OED still enters it as connexion.^[5] The act of connecting is from about 1600,^[2] or 1609 in the OED.^[5] The coherence of ideas is from 1651,^[5] and anything that connects from 1741–42.^[2][5] A circle of people with whom one has relations, as in family connections, is from 1767.^[2] The phrase in this connection is from 1780.^[5] In electricity, a link-up of current is from 1832,^[5] and a change from one train or other means of travel to another from 1862.^[2] A supplier of narcotics is slang by 1934.^[2]

Timeline

• late 14th century – the state of being connected.^[2]
• 1609 – the act of connecting.^[5]
• 1742 – a connecting part.^[5]
• mid-18th century – the spelling connection.^[2]
• 1767 – relatives and associates.^[2]
• 1832 – an electrical connection.^[5]
• 1862 – a connecting train or flight.^[2]
• 1934 – a drug dealer.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The act of connecting, or the state of being connected.
2. Something that connects; a link.
3. A relationship or association: no connection between the events.
4. A person one knows who can be useful; a relative by marriage.
5. A train, bus or flight that one changes to in the course of a journey.
6. (slang) A supplier of illegal drugs.

Word family

• connectional
• connectionism
• misconnection
• reconnection
• delta connection

Related words

• connect
• connective
• connectivity
• annex
• nexus
• 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 h i j k l m n o p q r Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press