Connect: Joining Two Things So Something Can Pass Between Them
To connect is to link two things. The word covers wires, flights, ideas and people, and in every case something has to be able to travel across the join.
Connect means to join so that something can pass along the link. Mere touching is not connecting. A cable that is plugged in but broken is not connected, and two people sitting silently together are not either.
- To join physically. *Connect the cable to the socket.*
- To link ideas. *Nobody connected the two events.*
- To establish a relationship. *They connected immediately.*
- To catch an onward service. *The train connects with the ferry.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | connect | Connect the wires. |
| Noun | connection | A poor connection. |
| British variant | connexion | An older spelling, now rare. |
| Adjective | connected | Well connected. |
| Noun | connectivity | Mobile connectivity. |
How it is used in a sentence
- The two towns are connected by a single road.Connected by the means of connection.
- She is well connected in publishing.Knows influential people.
- The punch connected.Landed on its target — a boxing use.
Connect, link, join and attach
- Connect — join so something can pass between
- Link — join in a chain or a sequence
- Join — bring together into one, permanently or not
- Attach — fix one thing to another, usually the smaller to the larger
- Couple — join two things of the same kind, as with railway carriages
From Latin *conectere*, to bind together, from *com* and *nectere*, to tie. The spelling *connexion* was standard in British English into the twentieth century and survives only in a few institutional names.
Connection or connexion?
Connection everywhere today. Connexion is an archaic British spelling kept only by some Methodist bodies.
Connect to or connect with?
To for equipment and networks: *connect to the server*. With for people and services: *connected with the audience*.