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
Michelle Orange, The New Yorker, 1 Mar. 2024
There was plenty of evidence at the concert of the unique cultural phenomenon that is the Swift-Kelce relationship, a nexus of professional football and the huge star power of Swift.
—Maria Sherman, Fortune, 11 Feb. 2024
Hollywood stands at the nexus of the Justice Department’s antitrust claims against Apple.
—Winston Cho, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Mar. 2024
The pool was designed as the home’s nexus between the natural elements of air, earth, and water.
—Emma Reynolds, Robb Report, 28 Feb. 2024
At the nexus of the Admiralbrücke, policies carried through and discarded, designs intentional and haphazard, come together to create a pleasingly multi-dimensional experience of sound.
—Cheri Lucas Rowlands, Longreads, 30 Jan. 2024
The issue occupies a key nexus where the bread-and-butter concerns of workers meet the larger goals of social justice.
—Jim Miller, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Mar. 2024
Though this island is a nexus for cruise ships, Abercrombie and Kent tries to dock early in the morning, getting in before the other big vessels.
—Jeanine Barone, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2024
Thaksin has been at the heart of a two-decade power struggle between the Shinawatra family and its clique of capitalist upstarts, and a nexus of royalists, generals and old-money families that have long wielded influence over Thai governments and institutions.
—Reuters, NBC News, 19 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'nexus.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Nexus.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nexus. Accessed 16 Apr. 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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