Annexation
nounThe act of formally adding a territory, region or property to an existing larger one, often by force or legal claim.
How to spell annexation
10 letters · 4 syllables
How to pronounce annexation
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does annexation mean?
- nounThe act of formally adding a territory, region or property to an existing larger one, often by force or legal claim.
Annexation in a sentence
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The treaty formally recognised the annexation of the disputed border region.
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Historians still debate the annexation of the island by the empire in the 1800s.
Where does annexation come from?
Language of origin: Latin
The word traces back to the Latin verb annectere, meaning 'to bind or tie to', which was formed from ad-, meaning 'to' or 'towards', and nectere, meaning 'to bind, tie or fasten'. From the past participle annexus came the idea of something joined or attached to a larger whole. English took the verb 'annex' through Old French annexer in the late 1300s, and the noun 'annexation' was built on it later, around the 1600s, to name the act of formally joining one territory or thing to another. The same nectere root that supplies the hidden 'nex' also lives on in 'connect' and 'nexus', words about binding things together. Remembering that buried 'nex' (not 'nax') is the spelling anchor, since the unstressed vowel tempts writers toward the wrong letter.
How the word is built
- an- (from ad-: to, towards)
- nex (from nectere: to bind or tie)
- -ation (noun of action)
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