Plexus

As I was reading Lewis Mumford’s 1937 essay entitled “What is a City?” I stumbled onto a gem of a “new” word that I’d love to be able to incorporate into my working vocabulary.

Plexus
1 : a network of anastomosing or interlacing blood vessels or nerves
2 : an interwoven combination of parts or elements in a structure or system

In this essay, Mumford explores (as the editors state) what he saw back then as the "fundamental propositions about city planning and the human potential, both individual and social, of urban life."

Mumford posits that city’s primary purpose might really be best defined as “a geographical plexus, an economic organization, an institutional process, a theater of social action, and an aesthetic symbol of collective unity.”

Outstanding! I don't agree with Mumford's theories about the need to place limits on the geographical size, density and overall population of cities to maximize the benefits derived from social intercourse while minimizing the negative externalities that higher-than-desirable densities and a sprawling geography bring. But I do know that I dig his use of the word "plexus."

From this point on I will always know what the word "plexus" means, but I hope I can take that a step further and firmly place the word into my verbal toolbox for use whenever I need it.

I like it.

Plexus.