Etymologically
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connection

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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
  • 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