'connector' originates from Latin, specifically from the verb 'connectere' (con- 'together' + nectere 'to bind'), with the agentive suffix '-or' from Latin used to form nouns meaning 'one who/that which performs an action'.

'connector' changed from Late Latin 'connectōr-' via Old French/Medieval Latin forms and Middle English adoption of 'connector' as the noun derived from the verb 'connect', eventually becoming the modern English 'connector'.

Initially, the root meant 'to bind or tie together'; over time the derived noun came to mean 'one who or that which links or joins' and extended to physical fittings, people, and abstract linking devices.