Etymologically
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network

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 19:32. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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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

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