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Origin and history of annex

annex(v.)

late 14c., "connect with," from Old French annexer "to join, attach" (13c.), from Medieval Latin annexare, frequentative of Latin annecetere "to bind to," from ad "to" (see ad-) + nectere "to tie, bind" (from PIE root *ned- "to bind, tie"). Usually meaning "to join in a subordinate capacity," but that notion is not in the etymology. Of nations or territories, c. 1400. Related: Annexed; annexing.

annex(n.)

1540s, "an adjunct, accessory," from French annexe "that which is joined" (13c.), from annexer "to join" (see annex (v.)). Meaning "supplementary building" is from 1861.

also from 1540s

Entries linking to annex

ad-

word-forming element expressing direction toward or in addition to, from Latin ad "to, toward" in space or time; "with regard to, in relation to," as a prefix, sometimes merely emphatic, from PIE root *ad- "to, near, at."

Simplified to a- before sc-, sp- and st-; modified to ac- before many consonants and then re-spelled af-, ag-, al-, etc., in conformity with the following consonant (as in affection, aggression). Also compare ap- (1).

In Old French, reduced to a- in all cases (an evolution already underway in Merovingian Latin), but French refashioned its written forms on the Latin model in 14c., and English did likewise 15c. in words it had picked up from Old French. In many cases pronunciation followed the shift.

Over-correction at the end of the Middle Ages in French and then English "restored" the -d- or a doubled consonant to some words that never had it (accursed, afford). The process went further in England than in France (where the vernacular sometimes resisted the pedantic), resulting in English adjourn, advance, address, advertisement (Modern French ajourner, avancer, adresser, avertissement). In modern word-formation sometimes ad- and ab- are regarded as opposites, but this was not in classical Latin.

*ned-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to bind, tie."

It might form all or part of: annex; annexation; connect; connection; denouement; net (n.) "netting, network, mesh used for capturing;" nettle; nexus; node; nodule; noose.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit nahyati "binds, ties;" Latin nodus "knot;" Old Irish nascim "I bind, oblige;" Old English net "netting, network."

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