internet English · revision 3345

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=clipping|attested=1974 (Merriam-Webster)}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈɪn.tə.net/, US /ˈɪn.t̬ɚ.net/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is shortened from [[internetwork]], also inter-network,^(Etymonline) that is, [[inter-]] and [[network]].^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)^(COED 2004)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Merriam-Webster's first known use is 1974.^(MWU 2024) 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.^(Etymonline) The SOED dates the word to the mid-20th century, and also records a verb, “to connect by computer networks”.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ As a noun the word is now usually capitalized, ''Internet'',^(SOED 2002) though the Associated Press style guide changed to lower case in 2016.^(Etymonline) The Concise Oxford dates it to the 1970s.^(COED 2004) Merriam-Webster's Collegiate, in 2003, gives 1985.^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1972 – ''internetwork''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1974 – first known use of ''internet''.^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1984 – the linked networks of the US Defense Department.^(Etymonline)

+ * 2016 – lower case in Associated Press style.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The worldwide [[computer network]] that links smaller networks and provides services such as the [[World Wide Web]] and [[email]].^(MWU 2024)^(COED 2004)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To connect computers or networks with one another.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[internetted]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[inter-]]

+ * [[network]]

+ * [[net]]

+ * [[website]]

+ * [[web]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}