An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

1. General: Anything serving to connect one part or thing with another; a bond or tie.
   

2. A direct connection in a hypertext document to the Internet address (URL) of another document.

Etymology (EN): From M.E. link(e), of Scandinavian origin; akin to O.Dan. lænkia “chain;” Old Norse hlekkr “chain;” Ger. Gelenk “joint.”

Etymology (PE): Peyvand “join, union,” from peyvandidan, peyvastan “to join, connect;” Mid.Pers. peywand, peywastan “connection, offspring; to join, connect, attach,” from *pati-basta-, from suffix pati-
(Mid.Pers. pât-,from O.Pers. paity “agaist, back, opposite to, toward, face to face, in front of,” Av. paiti, akin to Skt. práti “toward, against, again, back, in return, opposite,” Pali pati-, Gk. proti, pros “face to face with, toward, in addition to, near;” PIE *proti) + basta- “tied, shut” (Av./O.Pers. band- “to bind, fetter,” banda- “band, tie,” Skt. bandh- “to bind, tie, fasten,” PIE *bhendh- “to bind,” cf. Ger. binden, E. bind), cf. Skt. prati-bandh- “to tie.”