preferential attachment

noun

A positive feedback cycle where the more connected nodes in a graph are more likely to receive new links.

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Meanings

nounpreferential attachment (countable and uncountable, plural preferential attachments)

plural preferential attachments

  1. countableuncountablegraph theoryA positive feedback cycle where the more connected nodes in a graph are more likely to receive new links.

    Aided by preferential attachment and network effects (the phenomenon of a good or service becoming more valuable the more people who use it), a handful of winners emerge, overshadowing other available options.

    2014, Astra Taylor, chapter 4, in The People's Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age, Henry Holt and Company, →ISBN

Origin

Coined by Albert-László Barabási and Réka Albert.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

preferential attachment. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preferential%20attachment

MLA

“preferential attachment.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preferential%20attachment. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “preferential attachment,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preferential%20attachment.

Source: preferential attachment on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.