connectivity
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Pronunciation
Etymology
It is formed from English connective + -ity.[2][3] Connective itself is formed from connect and -ive, recorded from the 1650s.[2]
Earliest recorded meaning
The state or degree of being connected: 1872, according to Etymonline.[2] The OED's first record is from 1893, in A. R. Forsyth's Theory of Functions of a Complex Variable, and Merriam-Webster also dates it to 1893;[3][4] Dictionary.com gives 1890–1900.[5]
Semantic evolution
The word began in mathematics, of the way a surface is connected,[3][4] and the OED defines it broadly as the character or degree of being connected, in various senses.[3] Its commonest modern use is in computing, for the ability of a computer or device to connect to other machines or to the Internet.[6][4]
Timeline
- 1872 – state or degree of connectedness (Etymonline).[2]
- 1893 – in a mathematical treatise (OED, Merriam-Webster).[3][4]
Meanings
Noun
- The state of being connected, or of being able to be connected.[6][4][3]
- (computing) The state of being connected to the Internet, or the ability of a computer or device to connect to other machines and systems: The hotel's poor connectivity made video calls impossible.[6][4]
Related words
- connect
- connection
- connective
- disconnection
References
- ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c d e f Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
- ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins