Interlinkage

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The process of creating connections between different entities in a system
2. The state or process of joining various elements so they are connected within a system
3. The establishment or presence of links that unite separate components into a cohesive whole

Etymology: "Interlinkage" is a plain compound: the prefix "inter-", meaning "between" or "among", attached to "linkage", a noun for the act or result of linking. Put together, the word describes a connection that runs between separate things, as in the interlinkage of economies or of parts within a machine. The prefix "inter-" comes from Latin, where it meant "between, among, during," and it has been productive in English for centuries, producing words such as "intermingle" and "interrelation." "Linkage" is older in its own right, built from "link" with the suffix "-age," which marks a collective or resulting state, as in "breakage" or "drainage." The combination therefore reads literally as "a linking between," which is exactly how the word is used today.

Synonyms: connection, linkage, association, interconnection, relation

Antonyms: disconnection, separation, dissociation, division, isolation