link

English has two main words spelled link: the loop of a chain, from Scandinavian, and the torch, perhaps from Medieval Latin. links, ground for golf, is a third word, from Old English hlinc “ridge”.^[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

• IPA: /lɪŋk/^[4]

link¹ loop of a chain

Etymology

The loop of a chain is inherited from Middle English linke,^[1][5] probably borrowed from Old Norse *hlenkr,^[6][1][3] compare Old Norse hlekkr “link”, in the plural “chain”, Old Swedish lænker and German Gelenk “joint”,^[6][5] from Proto-Germanic *hlankijaz,^[5][3] from Proto-Indo-European *kleng- (“to bend, turn”).^[6] It is related to lank, flank and flinch,^[6][5] and to Old English hlencan “armour”.^[5][3] The noun is not found in Old English.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A section of a rope or cord: before 1415, in Wycliffe's Lantern of Light,^[5] and a link of a chain from about 1443,^[5] or about 1450.^[7] The verb, “to bind, fasten”, is from about 1385, in Usk, suggesting a gap in the record of the noun.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

A division of a chain of sausages is from the mid-15th century.^[6][7] Anything that connects one thing with another is from the 1540s.^[6] A hundredth part of a surveyor's chain is from 1661,^[7] and a cufflink, short for sleeve-link, from 1807.^[7] The intransitive verb, “to become connected, join in marriage”, is from the 1530s.^[6] The missing link between humans and apes dates to 1880.^[6] A means of telecommunication between two points is from 1911.^[6] Linkage is from 1874.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1385 – verb, to fasten.^[5]
• before 1415 – a section of a cord.^[5]
• c. 1443 – a link of a chain.^[5]
• mid-15th century – a sausage link.^[6]
• 1540s – any connecting thing.^[6]
• 1807 – a cufflink.^[7]
• 1880 – missing link.^[6]
• 1911 – a telecommunication link.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. One of the rings or loops of a chain.
2. A connection or relationship between things or people.
3. A unit in a transport or communications system: a rail link.
4. A cufflink.

Verb

1. To connect or join.

Word family

• linkage
• cufflink
• missing link
• linkup

link² torch

Etymology

The torch is of uncertain origin,^[6][3] possibly from Medieval Latin linchinus (“candle, wick”), an alteration of lichinus,^[6][1][2] from Latin lychnus (“lamp”), from Ancient Greek λύχνος (lúkhnos, “portable light, lamp”),^[1][6] from Proto-Indo-European *leuk- (“light, brightness”).^[6][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

A torch of tow and pitch: 1526^[7] or the 1520s.^[6]

Semantic evolution

A link lit the way through dark streets.^[8] The OED also records the word from 1845 for a link-boy.^[7]

Timeline

• 1526 – a torch of tow and pitch.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. (historical) A torch once used to light one's way in the streets.

Word family

• linkboy

Related words

• lank
• flank
• flinch
• links
• lychnis

References

1. ^ a b c d e f The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
2. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin