Joints

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /d͡ʒɔɪnts/

Definitions

1. A location where various elements connect and interact A structural point in the anatomy where bones link to allow movement An essential junction in mechanics or carpentry where pieces join to serve a purpose
2. Places where two or more components come together; points in the body where bones meet enabling movement; spots where mechanical or wooden parts are fastened
3. Connections linking different sections; physical links between bones facilitating motion; areas in construction or machinery joining parts securely

Etymology: The plural "joints" is the form of "joint," and the sense most readers know, a place where two things meet, descends from a Latin verb meaning "to join." Old French "joint" ("joint of the body") came from Latin "iūnctus," the past participle of "iungō," and Middle English took it up as "joynt" in the late 13th century. The same Latin root gives us "join," "junction," and "jugular," which is a useful reminder that the neck's great vein and a carpenter's dovetail share an ancestor. The body sense came first. Bones meeting at a hinge were the original "joints," and the mechanical and woodworking senses, where timbers or metal plates are fastened together, grew out of that picture of parts fitting closely. Over the centuries the word also took on a slangy life. Its sense of a shady establishment, especially an opium den, appeared in American English slang by 1877, and the cigarette sense of "joint" for a marijuana cigarette is attested from 1935.

Synonyms: articulations, connections, hinges

Antonyms: disconnections