Noah Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language

1. (n.) The act of connecting, or the state of being connected; junction; union; alliance; relationship.

2. (n.) That which connects or joins together; bond; tie.

3. (n.) A relation; esp. a person connected with another by marriage rather than by blood; -- used in a loose and indefinite, and sometimes a comprehensive, sense.

4. (n.) The persons or things that are connected; as, a business connection; the Methodist connection.