concatenation

/kənˈkædəˌneɪʃən/

Other forms: concatenations

Concatenation refers to a series of things — ideas, events, animals — that are somehow interconnected, individual parts that are linked to form a single unit, like the links in a chain.

If you think about a chain, you can imagine the individual links — they move separately, yet are linked so they always move together as well. This aptly describes concatenation, the state of several things being bound together. We can see the meaning from the word's source, the Latin concatēnāre. It comes from catēnāre, "to make a chain, to link," which itself comes from catena, "a chain." Add the prefix con-, meaning "together," and we get the meaning "to link together."

Definitions of concatenation

1. noun

   the act of linking together as in a series or chain
   type of:

   connection, connexion, joining

   the act of bringing two things into contact (especially for communication)
2. noun

   the linking together of a consecutive series of symbols or events or ideas etc
   “it was caused by an improbable concatenation of circumstances”

   type of:

   connectedness, connection, connexion

   a relation between things or events (as in the case of one causing the other or sharing features with it)
3. noun

   a series of things depending on each other as if linked together
   “a complicated concatenation of circumstances”

   synonyms: chain

   types:

   catena

   a chain of connected ideas or passages or objects so arranged that each member is closely related to the preceding and following members (especially a series of patristic comments elucidating Christian dogma)

   daisy chain

   (figurative) a series of associated things or people or experiences

   type of:

   series

   similar things placed in order or happening one after another
4. noun

   the state of being linked together as in a chain; union in a linked series
   type of:

   connectedness, connection, intersectionality, link

   the state of being connected