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nexus

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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.
  4. A centre or focus of something.
    Synonyms: hub, junction
    • 2025 December 11, Charlie Campbell, Andrew R. Chow and Billy Perrigo, “The Architects of AI Are TIME’s 2025 Person of the Year”, in Time‎[2]:
      More than just a corporate juggernaut, Nvidia also has become an instrument of statecraft, operating at the nexus of advanced technology, diplomacy, and geopolitics.
  5. (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).
  6. (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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Derived terms

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Translations

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References

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  1. ^ “nexus, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, 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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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Perfect passive participle of nectō (“bind”).

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.
  3. (nominalized, masculine, Ancient Rome, law) debtors who, having failed to cover the security they owed to their creditor, were enslaved to them as bondsmen (the practice was abolished in 326 BC, see quotes)
    Coordinate term: nexum
    • 27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita II.27:
      fusis Auruncis, uictor tot intra paucos dies bellis Romanus promissa consulis fidemque senatus exspectabat, cum Appius et insita superbia animo et ut collegae uanam faceret fidem, quam asperrime poterat ius de creditis pecuniis dicere. Deinceps et qui ante nexi fuerant creditoribus tradebantur et nectebantur alii.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
    • 27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita VIII.28:
      Eo anno plebi Romanae uelut aliud initium libertatis factum est quod necti desierunt; mutatum autem ius ob unius feneratoris simul libidinem, simul crudelitatem insignem. L. Papirius is fuit, cui cum se C. Publilius ob aes alienum paternum nexum dedisset […] iussique consules ferre ad populum […] pecuniae creditae bona debitoris, non corpus obnoxium esset. Ita nexi soluti, cautumque in posterum ne necterentur.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
    • 2nd century CE, Marcus Iunianus Iustinus, Epitoma Historiarum Philippicarum Pompeii Trogi XXI.II.2-3:
      Propter quae dum contemni se putat, saevitia grassatur nec, ut pater, carcerem nexis, sed caedibus civitatem replet; ob quae non contemptior omnibus quam invisior fuit.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
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

Etymology 2

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From nectō +‎ -tus (forming action nouns).

Noun

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nexus m (genitive nexūs); fourth declension

  1. (abstract) the act of binding, tying or fastening together
    Synonym: nexiō
  2. (concrete) something which binds; bond, joint, binding, fastening; nexus
    Synonym: iunctūra
  3. connection
    Synonym: nexilitās
  4. a personal obligation of a debtor
  5. 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
Derived terms
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Descendants
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  • → Catalan: nexe
  • → English: nexus
  • → French: nexus
  • → Italian: nesso (semi-learned)
  • → Portuguese: nexo
  • → Romanian: nex
  • → Spanish: nexo

References

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  • “nexus¹”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • “nexus²”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • “nexus¹”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • “nexus²”, 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[3], 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 (16 July 2016 (last accessed)), Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎[4], pre-publication website, 2005-2016
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