linkage

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)A mechanical device that connects things.

   “A linkage in my car's transmission is broken so I can't shift out of first gear.”

2. (countable, uncountable)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.”

3. (countable, uncountable)The act or result of linking: the combination of multiple object files into one executable, library, or object file.
4. (countable, uncountable)The property of genes of being inherited together.
5. (countable, uncountable)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.
6. (US, countable, historical, uncountable)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.