Plexer

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A device that combines multiple signals into one
2. an apparatus used in telecommunications to manage various inputs and outputs
3. a system facilitating the interaction between diverse data streams in communication networks

Etymology: The ending comes from Latin "plexus," meaning "braided" or "interwoven," from the verb "plectere," "to plait." English took the root through combining forms such as "duplex" (from Latin "duplex," "twofold") and "multiplex" (from Latin "multiplex," "manifold"), which describe things folded or woven together in several parts. The sense of "braiding" thus survives in words about combining many strands into one channel. "Plexer" itself is an agent noun, a thing that does the plexing, built by adding the English suffix "-er" to that combining stem. It is most likely a technical coinage from telecommunications or computing, modeled on "multiplexer."

Synonyms: networker, interconnector