nexus

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 12, 2026 is: nexus • NEK-sus  • noun A nexus is a relationship or connection between people or things. Nexus can also refer to a connected group or series or to the center or focus of something. // The cultural district serves as a nexus for art and cuisine. See the entry > Examples: “The eclectic costume design by Ryan Matthieu Smith suggests Eastern Europe at the nexus of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance: loosely fitting frocks and vests, layered and embroidered, and hats in myriad geometric shapes ...” — Manuel Mendoza, The Dallas Morning News, 1 Mar. 2026 Did you know? If you’re unfamiliar with the word nexus, the popular, long-running video game series The Legend of Zelda provides an object lesson in its several definitions. When nexus came into English from Latin in the 17th century, it meant “connection” or “link.” Eventually, people began using it to refer to a connected group or series of things, as in “a nexus of relationships.” In recent decades it has taken on a third meaning, “center” or “hub,” perhaps from the notion that a point in the center of an arrangement serves to join together the objects that surround it. Now, one might plausibly say that the 20 Zelda games (not counting remakes and spin-offs) themselves form a nexus, as each represents an installment in a long, twisty saga with numerous echoes and callbacks to other games in the series. Most of these feature the fictional land of Hyrule, which often presents magical nexuses to shadowy alternate dimensions (1991’s A Link to the Past), the past (2011’s Skyward Sword), or the underworld (2023’s Tears of the Kingdom) that the hero, Link (ahem) must traverse. As for nexus’s third meaning, Hyrule’s map is nearly always situated around a central nexus, or hub, in the form of the castle where the titular Zelda lives. (If you’re into gaming or curious about its lingo, don’t miss the article “Popular Gaming Terms Explained”).