linkage

noun6

1. •
   A connection or relation between things or ideas.

   • Far from ignoring linkages between gays and the poor and working class, I specifically made the point that they are common victims of the bureaucratic revolution. — 1976
2. •
   The property of genes of being inherited together.
3. •
   A mechanical device that connects things.

   • A linkage in my car's transmission is broken so I can't shift out of first gear.
4. •
   The act or result of linking: the combination of multiple object files into one executable, library, or object file.
5. •
   (US, 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.
6. •
   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.