'connective' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'connectivus', where 'con-' meant 'together' and 'nectere' meant 'to bind'.

'connectivus' passed through Late Latin/Medieval Latin into Middle English as 'connective' and eventually became the modern English word 'connective'.

Initially, it meant 'serving to bind together', and over time it evolved into the current senses of 'serving to connect' and the noun sense referring to linking words or connective tissue.