Wiktionary

nexus

See also: nexûs and nexūs

English

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WOTD – 13 March 2021

Etymology

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From Latin nexus (“connection, nexus; act of binding, tying or fastening together; something which binds, binding, bond, fastening, joint; legal obligation”), from nectō (“to attach, bind, connect, fasten, tie; to interweave; to relate; to unite; to bind by obligation, make liable, oblige; to compose, contrive, devise, produce”) + -tus (suffix forming verbal nouns).[1]

Pronunciation

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Noun

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nexus (countable and uncountable, plural nexuses or nexusses or (rare) nexus)

  1. A form or state of connection.
    Synonyms: bond, junction, link, tie; see also Thesaurus:junction, Thesaurus:link
    1. (Canada, US, finance, law) The relationship between a vendor and a jurisdiction for the purpose of taxation, established for example by the vendor operating a physical store in that jurisdiction.
  2. A connected group; a network, a web.
    • 2023 May 14, Panarat Thepgumpanat, Panu Wongcha-um, “Thailand's opposition opens up big election lead as army parties slide”, in Reuters‎[1]:
      Sunday's election pits Move Forward and the billionaire Shinawatra family's Pheu Thai against ruling parties backed by a nexus of old money, conservatives and generals with influence over key institutions involved in two decades of upheaval in Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy.
  3. A centre or focus of something.
    Synonyms: hub, junction
  4. (grammar) In the work of the Danish linguist Otto Jespersen (1860–1943): a group of words expressing two concepts in one unit (such as a clause or sentence).
  5. (Ancient Rome, law, historical) A person who had contracted a nexum 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; an indentured servant.

Usage notes

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The Latin plural form (written nexūs or nexûs) is sometimes used in academic discussions of process philosophy.

Derived terms

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Translations

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References

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  1. ^ “nexus, n.”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, June 2019; “nexus, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

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Anagrams

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Latin

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Etymology

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Perfect passive participle of nectō (“bind”).

Pronunciation

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Participle

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nexus (feminine nexa, neuter nexum); first/second-declension participle

  1. bound, tied, fastened, connected, interwoven, having been bound.
  2. bound by obligation, obliged, made liable, pledged, having been obliged.

Declension

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First/second-declension adjective.

singular plural
masculine feminine neuter masculine feminine neuter
nominative nexus nexa nexum nexī nexae nexa
genitive nexī nexae nexī nexōrum nexārum nexōrum
dative nexō nexae nexō nexīs
accusative nexum nexam nexum nexōs nexās nexa
ablative nexō nexā nexō nexīs
vocative nexe nexa nexum nexī nexae nexa

Noun

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nexus m (genitive nexūs); fourth declension

  1. the act of binding, tying or fastening together
  2. something which binds; bond, joint, binding, fastening; connection; nexus
  3. a personal obligation of a debtor
  4. a legal obligation

Declension

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Fourth-declension noun.

singular plural
nominative nexus nexūs
genitive nexūs nexuum
dative nexuī nexibus
accusative nexum nexūs
ablative nexū nexibus
vocative nexus nexūs

Synonyms

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Descendants

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  • Catalan: nexe
  • → English: nexus
  • French: nexus
  • Italian: nesso
  • Portuguese: nexo
  • Romanian: nex
  • Spanish: nexo

References

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  • “nexus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • “nexus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • nexus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
  • Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎[2], London: Macmillan and Co.
    • concatenation, interdependence of causes: rerum causae aliae ex aliis nexae
    • systematic succession, concatenation: continuatio seriesque rerum, ut alia ex alia nexa et omnes inter se aptae colligataeque sint (N. D. 1. 4. 9)
    • the connection: sententiae inter se nexae
    • the connection: contextus orationis (not nexus, conexus sententiarum)
  • nexus in Ramminger, Johann (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎[3], pre-publication website, 2005-2016
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