linkage

UK: /ˈlɪŋkɪdʒ/ US: /ˈlɪŋkɪdʒ/ ,(ling′kij)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

link•age /ˈlɪŋkɪdʒ/   n. 

1. [uncountable] the act of linking, or the state or manner of being linked.
2. a system of links:
   [countable] a linkage between cause and effect.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

link•age  (ling′kij), n. 

1. the act of linking;
   state or manner of being linked.
2. a system of links.
3. [Genetics.] an association between two or more genes on a chromosome that tends to cause the characteristics determined by these genes to be inherited as an inseparable unit.
4. Mechanical Engineering [Mach.] an assembly of four or more rods for transmitting motion, usually in the same plane or in parallel planes.
5. Government a factor or relationship that connects or ties one thing to another;
   link:
   Administration officials sought to establish linkage between grain sales and relaxed immigration laws.
6. Mathematics any of various mathematical or drawing devices consisting of a combination of bars or pieces pivoted together so as to turn about one another, usually in parallel planes.
7. Electricity See flux linkage. 

• link¹ + -age 1870–75

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

linkage / ˈlɪŋkɪdʒ/ noun

1. the act of linking or the state of being linked
2. a system of interconnected levers or rods for transmitting or regulating the motion of a mechanism
3. the product of the total number of lines of magnetic flux and the number of turns in a coil or circuit through which they pass
4. the occurrence of two genes close together on the same chromosome so that they are unlikely to be separated during crossing over and tend to be inherited as a single unit
5. the fact of linking separate but related issues in the course of political negotiations