Joined so that one can reach the other. Connection holds two things together while leaving them two.
Latin connectere (to bind together), from com- (together) + nectere (to tie, weave); joined so each can reach the other while remaining two separate things.
The tie is Latin nectere's own weaving, and a weave, unlike a fusion, always leaves both threads countable afterward. Two things connected can always, in principle, be counted apart again.