{"id":24566,"date":"2026-04-16T14:46:56","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T14:46:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/?p=24566"},"modified":"2026-04-16T14:46:56","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T14:46:56","slug":"a-nexus-of-connections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/?p=24566","title":{"rendered":"A Nexus of Connections"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>What connects the words <strong>nexus<\/strong>, <strong>annex(e)<\/strong> and <strong>connection<\/strong>?<\/p>\n<p><a data-flickr-embed=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/djking\/29137102586\/in\/photolist-LoKgtG-aWEBvi-7tpUZr-bDSYe4-bDSYgH-bqY2Hq-bDSYzn-bqY2N3-5CyMWu-7zBCLB-bDSYwr-bqY3hY-bDSYjP-bqY2rA-bDSYH4-HScSwh-bqY3cf-bDSYN2-bqY2uA-DwSXjf-bzrJFb-bNmqkn-bNmsu2-kLeU78-6XbM6w-GQgX79-kLeRSt-jDwsP8-DUn5Ny-dEkgFj-7xe1Ma-7wXUVe-7x3LoR-7BYwex-7tyTTg-7vae7y-54hf41-7tt1LF-dbKGBw-58QdMD-bDSZ4Z-kLh4P9-mU21s-kLfEFM-xhhaUD-5zZngT-dmknZU-dbKF9A-znotj3-dEkgPd\" title=\"Nexus\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/8087\/29137102586_3a76aec853_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"426\" alt=\"Nexus\"\/><\/a><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>A <strong>nexus<\/strong> [\u02c8n\u025bks\u0259s] is form or state of connection; a connected group, network or web; or a centre or focus of something. It comes from Latin <em>nexus<\/em> (bound, tied, fastened, connected, interwoven), from <em>nect\u014d<\/em> (to connect, interweave, attach, bind, tie, oblige), possibly from <em>n\u014ddus<\/em> (knot, bond, obligation) and\/or nassa (a narrow-necked basket for catching fish) [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/nexus#English\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p>Apparently in Ancient Rome, a <em>nexus<\/em> was a person who had contracted a <em>nexum<\/em> or obligation of such a kind that, if they failed to pay, their creditor could compel them to work as a servant until the debt was paid. This practice was abolished in 326 BC [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/nexus#Latin\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p>If there is more than one <strong>nexus<\/strong>, there are several <strong>nexuses<\/strong>, <strong>nexusses<\/strong> or <strong>nexi<\/strong>. The plural in Latin is <em>nex\u016bs<\/em> or <em>nex\u00fbs<\/em>, not <em>nexi<\/em>, by the way. Do you have a preferred plural for this word?<\/p>\n<p>Related words include <strong>nexo<\/strong> (nexus, connection, sense, coherence) in Portuguese, <strong>nexo<\/strong> (link, connection, nexus) in Spanish and <strong>nexe<\/strong> (nexus, connection, link) in Catalan [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/nexus#Latin\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p>The word <strong>annex(e)<\/strong> (an addition, extension, appendix) also comes from the same roots, via French <strong>annexe<\/strong> (annex(e), appendix), from Latin <em>annexus<\/em> (tied, fastened, bound, related by blood), from <em>annect\u014d \/ adnect\u014d<\/em> (to bind, tie to, connect, annex), from <em>ad-<\/em> (to) and <em>nect\u014d<\/em> (to connect, etc) [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/annex#English\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p>Related words include <strong>anejo<\/strong> (accompaniment, affix) and <strong>anexar<\/strong> (to annex, attach) in Spanish, and <strong>annettere<\/strong> (to attach, add, annex, consolidate) in Italian [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/nexus#Latin\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p>Another connected word is the word <strong>connection<\/strong>, which comes from Middle English <em>connexioun<\/em> (connection), from Latin <em>connexionem<\/em>, from <em>c\u014dnexi\u014d<\/em> (junction, meeting, connection), from <em>c\u014dnect\u014d<\/em> (to connect, link, fasten together) from <em>con-<\/em> (with) and <em>nect\u014d<\/em> (to connect, etc) [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/connection#English\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p>Related words include <strong>connexe<\/strong> (closely related, connected) in French, <strong>connesso<\/strong> (connected, associated, linked, related) in Italian and <strong>conex<\/strong> (connected) in Romanian [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/conexus#Latin\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-5001128073855040\"\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- Blog horizontal --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\n     style=\"display:block\"\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-5001128073855040\"\n     data-ad-slot=\"1685480124\"\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What connects the words nexus, annex(e) and connection? A nexus [\u02c8n\u025bks\u0259s] is form or state of connection; a connected group, network or web; or a centre or focus of something. It comes from Latin nexus (bound, tied, fastened, connected, interwoven), from nect\u014d (to connect, interweave, attach, bind, tie, oblige), possibly from n\u014ddus (knot, bond, obligation) [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[94,104,107,111,128,10,15,26,41,51,64,78],"tags":[607,608,606,164,158,138,605,281,163],"class_list":["post-24566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-catalan","category-english","category-etymology","category-french","category-italian","category-language","category-latin","category-middle-english","category-portuguese","category-romanian","category-spanish","category-words-and-phrases","tag-annex","tag-annexe","tag-connection","tag-english","tag-etymology","tag-language","tag-nexus","tag-omniglot","tag-words"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24566"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24570,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24566\/revisions\/24570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}