network

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈnet.wɜːk/, US /ˈnet.wɝːk/^[1]

Etymology

It is a compound, from English net + work.^[2][3][4] The verb is from the noun.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Work in which threads or wires cross like a net: 1530 according to Merriam-Webster,^[3] 1560 in the OED,^[5] or the 1550s.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Structures resembling a net in animals and plants are from 1658.^[5] An interconnected system of immaterial things is from 1816,^[5] and any complex interlocking system, at first of rivers, canals and railways, from 1839.^[2][5] A system of electricity cables is from 1883,^[5] and a broadcasting system of linked transmitters from 1914.^[2][5] An interconnected group of people is by 1934 in the jargon of psychology,^[2] or 1947.^[5] The verb meant “to cover with a network” in 1887,^[2][5] “to broadcast over a network” from 1940, and “to link computers” from 1972;^[2][5] of people, “to make contacts by exchanging information”, it is by 1982.^[2]

Timeline

• 1530 – a net-like structure.^[3]
• 1839 – a system of rivers, canals and railways.^[2][5]
• 1883 – an electricity network.^[5]
• 1887 – verb, to cover with a network.^[2]
• 1914 – a broadcasting network.^[2][5]
• 1934 – a group of people.^[2]
• 1940 – verb, to broadcast.^[2]
• 1972 – verb, to link computers.^[2][5]
• 1982 – verb, to make contacts.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A fabric or structure of cords or wires crossing at regular intervals.
2. A system of lines, roads or channels that cross or connect: a rail network.
3. A group of connected people or organizations.
4. A group of broadcasting stations that share programmes.
5. (computing) A system of connected computers.

Verb

1. To meet and talk with others to exchange information and make useful contacts.
2. To connect computers in a network.
3. To broadcast over a network.

Word family

• networker
• networking
• nonnetwork
• subnetwork
• supernetwork
• old-boy network

Related words

• net
• work
• internet

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 h i j k l m n o p Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press