Etymologically
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internet

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 19:39. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈɪn.tə.net/, US /ˈɪn.t̬ɚ.net/[1]

Etymology

It is shortened from internetwork, also inter-network,[2] that is, inter- and network.[2][3][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Merriam-Webster's first known use is 1974.[5] Etymonline dates the noun to 1984, for the linked computer networks of the United States Defense Department, and internetwork to 1972, for networks of many separate computers that were then still hypothetical.[2] The SOED dates the word to the mid-20th century, and also records a verb, “to connect by computer networks”.[3]

Semantic evolution

As a noun the word is now usually capitalized, Internet,[3] though the Associated Press style guide changed to lower case in 2016.[2] The Concise Oxford dates it to the 1970s.[4] Merriam-Webster's Collegiate, in 2003, gives 1985.[6]

Timeline

  • 1972 – internetwork.[2]
  • 1974 – first known use of internet.[5]
  • 1984 – the linked networks of the US Defense Department.[2]
  • 2016 – lower case in Associated Press style.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The worldwide computer network that links smaller networks and provides services such as the World Wide Web and email.

Verb

  1. To connect computers or networks with one another.

Word family

  • internetted

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster