junction English · revision 14916

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1711|origins=la iungō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈdʒʌŋk.ʃən/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|iūnctiō|t=a joining, uniting]], perhaps influenced by [[fr|jonction]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) from the past participle stem of [[m|la|iungō|t=to join]] (see [[join]] and [[yoke]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from [[ine-pro|*yeug-|t=to join]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The act of joining, a union: 1711, in Addison's writing in The Spectator.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Union of abstract things or of persons is from 1783.^(OED 1989) A canal or railway joining others was a junction from 1796,^(OED 1989) and Barnhart thinks the general sense, a place where railways or roads meet (1841), came from names such as Grand Junction Canal.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) Etymonline dates that sense to 1836, in American English, first of railway tracks.^(Etymonline) In electronics a junction is a zone between two regions of a semiconductor (1949).^(OED 1989) ''Junction box'' is from 1885,^(OED 1989) and juncture from the 14th century.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1711 – the act of joining.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1796 – a junction canal or railway.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1836 – a place where tracks meet.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1885 – junction box.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1949 – a semiconductor junction.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A place where routes, lines or roads meet or cross: ''a railway junction''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(British)'' A point where traffic may leave or join a [[motorway]].^(Collins 2023)

+ # The act of joining or the state of being joined.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # ''(electronics)'' A boundary between regions of different electrical properties in a [[semiconductor]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[junctional]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[join]]

+ * [[juncture]]

+ * [[conjunction]]

+ * [[yoke]]

+ * [[joint]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}