Internet

How to spell internet

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce internet

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does internet mean?

1. nounThe global system of interconnected computer networks that lets people share information and communicate.

Internet in a sentence

• The hotel charged extra for internet access in the rooms.

• She paid the bills online once the internet connection was restored.

Where does internet come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word internet is a modern blend, built from the Latin prefix inter-, meaning 'between' or 'among', joined to 'net', a clipping of 'network'. It began life in the 1970s as technical shorthand among American computer scientists for an 'internetwork', a connection linking separate computer networks together so that data could pass between them. As the global system of linked networks grew through the 1980s and 1990s, the term was capitalised and narrowed to mean the single worldwide system we know today, before drifting back toward lowercase in ordinary writing. The 'net' element ultimately traces to the Old English 'net', the same word used for a mesh of knotted cord for catching fish, which is a fitting image for a web of connections. Because the spelling simply stacks a familiar prefix onto a familiar short word, it holds few traps, and the only real wobble for adults is whether to capitalise the first letter.

How the word is built

• inter- (between, among)
• net (from network)