colligation

Noun

colligation (countable and uncountable, plural colligations)

1. A binding together.
   • Near-synonyms: ligation, ligature
   • These therefore the midwife cutteth off, contriving them into a knot close unto the body of the Infant; from whence ensueth that tortuosity or complicated nodosity we usually call the Navell; occasioned by the colligation of the vessels before mentioned.1646, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], London: […] T[homas] H[arper] for Edward Dod, […], →OCLC

   Synonyms:

   ligation, ligature

2. The formulation of a general hypothesis which seeks to connect two or more facts.
   • Induction is a term applied to describe the process of a true Colligation of Facts by means of an exact and appropriate Conception.1840, William Whewell, “Aphorisms Concerning Science”, in The Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences, Founded upon Their History. […], volume I, London: John W[illiam] Parker, […]; Cambridge...
   • the colligation of facts1843, John Stuart Mill, A System of Logic, Ratiocinative and Inductive, being a Connected View of the Principles of Evidence, and the Methods of Scientific Investigation. […], volume (please specify...
3. The co-occurrence of syntactic categories, usually within a sentence.