or nexus
ˈnek-səs
Did you know?
If you’re unfamiliar with the word nexus, the popular, long-running video game series The Legend of Zelda may provide an object lesson in its several definitions (and if you’re unfamiliar with the games, we will explain). When nexus came into English in the 17th century, it meant “connection” or “link.” Eventually, people began using it to refer to a connected group or series of things, as in “a nexus of relationships.” In recent decades it has taken on a third meaning: “center” or “hub,” perhaps from the notion that a point in the center of an arrangement serves to join together the objects that surround it. Now, one might plausibly say that the 20 Zelda games (not counting remakes and spin-offs) themselves form a nexus, as each represents an installment in a long, twisty saga with numerous echoes and callbacks to other games in the series. Most of these feature the fictional land of Hyrule, which often presents magical nexuses to shadowy alternate dimensions (1991’s A Link to the Past), the past (2011’s Skyward Sword), or the underworld (2023’s Tears of the Kingdom) that the hero, Link (ahem) must traverse. As for nexus’s third meaning, Hyrule’s map is nearly always situated around a central nexus, or hub, in the form of the castle where the titular Zelda lives. (If you’re into gaming or curious about its lingo, don’t miss the article “Popular Gaming Terms Explained”).
Synonyms
Examples of nexus in a Sentence
Alexander Smith, NBC News, 4 Nov. 2024
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez discusses the nexus of public safety, mental health and adverse child experiences during a news conference following a summit in Albuquerque, N.M., Friday, Nov. 3, 2023.
—Dan Mangan, CNBC, 5 Sep. 2024
So, Mosher fell in with pockets of others who left their vehicles in long rows on sidewalks and roadway shoulders and walked – pushing strollers, maneuvering a leg-cast scooter, hoisting toddlers on hips and shoulders – under a late-summer sun toward the nexus of flashing blue lights.
—Nouran Salahieh, Michelle Krupa and Nicole Chavez, CNN, 5 Sep. 2024
The unique space Jones occupied at the nexus of the concert hall, the jazz club, and the recording studio was given form.
—Christian Blauvelt, IndieWire, 4 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for nexus 
Dictionary Entries Near nexus
Cite this Entry
“Nexus.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nexus. Accessed 30 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
nexus
noun
or nexus
-səs, -ˌsüs
Legal Definition
nexus
noun
Latin, bond, tie, from nectere to bind
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