link¹

[lingk] /lɪŋk/

noun

one of the rings or separate pieces of which a chain is composed.

anything serving to connect one part or thing with another; a bond or tie:

The locket was a link with the past.

a unit in a communications system, as a radio relay station or a television booster station.

any of a series of sausages in a chain.

a cuff link.

a ring, loop, or the like:

a link of hair.

Computers. an object, as text or graphics, linked through hypertext to a document, another object, etc.

Surveying, Civil Engineering.

(in a surveyor's chain) a unit of length equal to 7.92 inches (20.12 centimeters).
one of 100 rods or loops of equal length forming a surveyor's or engineer's chain.

Chemistry, bond¹ (def 15).

10.

Machinery. a rigid, movable piece or rod, connected with other parts by means of pivots or the like, for the purpose of transmitting motion.

verb (used with object), verb (used without object)

11.

to join by or as if by a link or links; connect; unite (often followed by up):

The new bridge will link the island to the mainland. The company will soon link up with a hotel chain.

Origin

1375-1425; late Middle English link(e) < Old Danish lænkia chain; cognate with Old Norse hlekkr link (plural, chain), Old English hlence coat of chain mail, akin to German Gelenk joint

Related forms

linker, noun

Synonyms

2. connection, connective, copula. 10. bond, league, conjoin, fasten, bind, tie, pin.

British Dictionary definitions for linker

linker

/ˈlɪŋkə/

noun

(computing) a program that adjusts two or more machine-language program segments so that they may be simultaneously loaded and executed as a unit

(in systemic grammar) a word that links one word, phrase, sentence, or clause to another; a co-ordinating conjunction or a sentence connector Compare binder (sense 11)

link¹

/lɪŋk/

noun

any of the separate rings, loops, or pieces that connect or make up a chain

something that resembles such a ring, loop, or piece

a road, rail, air, or sea connection, as between two main routes

a connecting part or episode

a connecting piece in a mechanism, often having pivoted ends

Also called radio link. a system of transmitters and receivers that connect two locations by means of radio and television signals

a unit of length equal to one hundredth of a chain. 1 link of a Gunter's chain is equal to 7.92 inches, and of an engineer's chain to 1 foot

(computing) short for hyperlink

weak link, an unreliable person or thing within an organization or system

verb

10.

(often foll by up) to connect or be connected with or as if with links

11.

(transitive) to connect by association, etc

Derived Forms

linkable, adjective

Word Origin

C14: from Scandinavian; compare Old Norse hlekkr link

link²

/lɪŋk/

noun

(formerly) a torch used to light dark streets

Word Origin

C16: perhaps from Latin lychnus, from Greek lukhnos lamp

Word Origin and History for linker

link

early 15c., "one of a series of rings or loops which form a chain; section of a cord," probably from Old Norse *hlenkr or a similar Scandinavian source (cf. Old Norse hlekkr "link," Old Swedish lænker "chain, link," Norwegian lenke, Danish lænke), from Proto-Germanic *khlink- (cf. German lenken "to bend, turn, lead," gelenk "articulation, joint, link," Old English hlencan (plural) "armor"), from PIE root *kleng- "to bend, turn." Missing link between man and apes dates to 1880.

"torch," 1520s, of uncertain origin, possibly from Medieval Latin linchinus, from lichinus "wick," from Greek lykhnos "portable light, lamp."

"bind, fasten, to couple," late 14c., believed to be from link (n.), though it is attested earlier. Related: Linked; linking.

linker in Medicine

linker link·er (lĭng'kər)
n.
A fragment of synthetic DNA containing a restriction site that may be used for splicing of genes.

linker in Science

link

(lĭngk)
A segment of text or a graphical item that serves as a cross-reference between parts of a webpage or other hypertext documents or between webpages or other hypertext documents.

linker in Technology

programming, tool
(link editor, linkage editor, link loader) A program that combines one or more files containing object code from separately compiled program modules into a single file containing loadable or executable code
This process involves resolving references between the modules and fixing the relocation information used by the operating system kernel when loading the file into memory to run it.
Under Unix, the linker is called "ld" and object files have filename extension .o (object), .so (shared object), or .lib (library), and the resulting executable is called "a.out" by default.
(2001-10-13)