linkage

noun

Etymology: Etymology tree English link Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂tos Proto-Italic *-ātos Latin -ātus Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -icus Latin -āticus Latin -āticum Old French -agebor. Middle English -age English -age English linkage From link + -age.

1. A mechanical device that connects things.

   “A linkage in my car's transmission is broken so I can't shift out of first gear.”

2. A connection or relation between things or ideas.

   “Far from ignoring linkages between gays and the poor and working class, I specifically made the point that they are common victims of the bureaucratic revolution.”

3. The act or result of linking: the combination of multiple object files into one executable, library, or object file.
4. The property of genes of being inherited together.
5. A set of definitely related languages for which no proto-language can be derived, typically a group of languages within a family that have formed a sprachbund.
6. A United States foreign policy, during the 1970s détente in the Cold War, of persuading the Soviet Union to co-operate in restraining revolutions in the Third World in return for nuclear and economic concessions.