English
connection
Connection comes from Latin connexiō ‘a binding together’, from cōnectō ‘to bind together’, from con- + nectō ‘to bind’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnectō‘to bind, tie’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōnectō‘to bind together’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEconnexiō‘a binding together’alternative spelling of cōnectō
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500conneccioun
- Englishearliest quotation 1923connection
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnectō‘to bind, tie’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōnectō‘to bind together’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEconnexiō‘a binding together’alternative spelling of cōnectō
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500conneccioun
- Englishearliest quotation 1923connection
Earliest quotation: 1923, Ernest Bramah pseudonym; Ernest Brammah , (please specify the page): “I hadn't much chance of buying a practice or…”
The story
In American English mid-18c., spelling shifted from connexion to connection (equivalent to connect + -ion), thus making connexion British dated and connection in international use.
Linked words
through Latin nectō ‘to bind’
through Latin cōnectō ‘to bind together’
Today it means
noun The act of connecting.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin nectō / connection