communication

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a connection allowing access between persons or places

   how many lines of communication can there be among four people?

2. 2
   noun

   The act or fact of communicating anything; transmission.

   communication of smallpox

3. 3
   noun

   The concept or state of exchanging data or information between entities.

   Some say that communication is a necessary prerequisite for sentience; others say that it is a result thereof.

4. 4
   noun

   A message; the essential data transferred in an act of communication.

   Surveillance was accomplished by means of intercepting the spies' communications.

5. 5
   noun

   The body of all data transferred to one or both parties during an act of communication.

   The subpoena required that the company document their communication with the plaintiff.

6. 6
   noun

   An instance of information transfer; a conversation or discourse.

   The professors' communications consisted of lively discussions via email.

7. 7
   noun

   A passageway or opening between two locations; connection.

   A round archway at the far end of the hallway provided communication to the main chamber.

8. 8
   noun

   A connection between two tissues, organs, or cavities.

   ...and here a free communication had been established between the aorta and the vena cava.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English comunicacioun, communicacion (“discussion, association”), from Old French communicacion, from Latin commūnicātiōnem, accusative singular of commūnicātiō (“imparting, communicating”), from commūnicō (“to share, to impart”). Morphologically communicate + -ion.