noun

• A mechanical device that connects things.
• A connection or relation between things or ideas.
• (software compilation) The act or result of linking: the combination of multiple object files into one executable, library, or object file.
• (genetics) The property of genes of being inherited together.
• (linguistics) A set of definitely related languages for which no proto-language can be derived, typically a group of languages within a family that have formed a sprachbund.
• (US, politics, historical) A United States foreign policy, during the 1970s détente in the Cold War, of persuading the Soviet Union to co-operate in restraining revolutions in the Third World in return for nuclear and economic concessions.