nexus

Definitions

nexus is the bare Latin past participle of nectere (tie) — literally "a binding." English borrowed it whole and kept the knot image: a nexus is the point where many ties meet, the central knot of a network. It is a formal, slightly intellectual word — "a nexus of power," "the nexus between two ideas."

Why It Means This

In Roman law, nexus was more than a knot — it named a bond of debt, a person tied by legal obligation to a creditor. The sense of being "bound" softened over time, and English kept only the abstract image: not a person in chains, but a place where many threads are tied together. That is why a nexus today is a meeting point of forces or ideas rather than a literal rope.

Common Collocations

• 1.nexus of power权力枢纽
• 2.nexus between…之间的关联
• 3.central nexus中枢纽带
• 4.a nexus of…的汇聚点

Example Sentences

• 1.

  The city became the nexus of trade between the two empires.

• 2.

  The report examines the nexus between poverty and crime.

• 3.

  Their headquarters sits at the nexus of three major highways.