What does interconnected mean?
Interconnected describes things that are joined in a way that makes them form a larger, often mutually dependent whole. The word is especially useful for systems, communities, and ideas whose individual parts influence one another. A family of interconnected sensors, for example, does more than transmit signals to a central point: each device may affect how the others behave. In social and academic contexts, “interconnected” can emphasize relationships that are difficult to separate, such as links between climate, health, and economic activity. The word is common in formal, scientific, and educational prose, but it is also easily understood in everyday speech. It can carry a positive connotation of cooperation and integration, although it may also suggest vulnerability, because a disruption in one connected part can spread through the entire network.
Joined or linked together in a network, especially in a way in which the parts affect or depend on one another.
"The interconnected pieces of the puzzle were designed to reveal a single historical narrative."
Common in general usage and in formal, academic, and technical writing.
Past tense and past participle of interconnect: to join two or more things in a network or establish links among them.
"The architects interconnected the old building with a newly constructed courtyard."
In this use, interconnected describes the completed action of joining separate elements.
Interconnected turns the simple idea of a connection into a web: one link can influence an entire network.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does interconnected come from?
Interconnected combines the Latin prefix inter-, meaning “between” or “among,” with connected, which comes from Latin connectere, “to join together.” The form connected developed through French before becoming established in English. Interconnected uses the same joining root found in connect, connection, connective, and connexion, while its prefix emphasizes connections among multiple elements.
Related word forms
How interconnected is actually used
The adjective is common in general, academic, scientific, and technical writing. It often suggests that the elements of a system influence one another, not merely that they happen to be physically linked. As a past participle, it can also describe the result of connecting separate things.