combination English · revision 4343

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=late 14th century|origins=la bini}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˌkɒm.bɪˈneɪ.ʃən/, US /ˌkɑːm.bəˈneɪ.ʃən/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|combinacyoun]],^(Etymonline) [[bor|fro|combination]] (modern French combinaison),^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) from [[la-lat|combinātiō|alt=combinationem|t=a joining two by two]],^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998) a noun of action from combinare “to unite, yoke together”,^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from Latin com- “together” and bini “two by two”,^(Etymonline) from bi- “twice”, from [[ine-pro|*dwo-|t=two]].^(Etymonline) It is related to [[combine]].^(NODE 1998)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The act of uniting two things into a whole, or the state of being so united: the late 14th century in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) Merriam-Webster gives the 14th century,^(MW Collegiate) while the OED's quotations for the general sense begin later, in 1613.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A whole formed by uniting things is from the 1530s,^(Etymonline) about 1532 in the OED.^(OED 1989) An association of persons for a common end is from the 1570s,^(Etymonline) 1571 in the OED,^(OED 1989) and the banding together for such an end from 1593.^(OED 1989) Johnson in 1755 gave it first as “union for some certain purpose; association; league”, distinguishing a combination of private persons from a confederacy of states.^(Johnson 1755) In the Church of England a combination was also a plurality of benefices, from 1618.^(OED 1989) The ''combination lock'' is from 1851, and the series of moves that opens one from 1880.^(Etymonline) A small band of musicians is from 1928, compare [[combo]].^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * late 14th century – a union of two things.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1532 – a whole formed by uniting.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1571 – an association of persons.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1618 – an ecclesiastical plurality.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1851 – ''combination lock''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1880 – the series of numbers for a lock.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1928 – a small band.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The act of combining, or the state of being combined.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The result of combining; a [[mixture]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # An [[alliance]] of persons or groups for a common purpose.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The sequence of numbers or letters that opens a combination [[lock]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(mathematics)'' A selection of elements from a set in which order does not matter.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # In sport, a series of blows or moves, as in boxing.^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[combinational]]

+ * [[combo]]

+ * [[recombination]]

+ * [[linear combination]]

+ * [[combination lock]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[combinative]]

+ * [[combinatory]]

+ * [[combine]]

+ * [[binary]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}