Internet

• internet (see Usage notes below)

Coined by the U.S. Defense Department in 1986. Shortening of internetwork.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɪn.təˌnɛt/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• (US) enPR: ĭnʹ(t)ərnĕt', IPA^(key): /ˈɪn.(t)ɚˌnɛt/, [ˈɪɾ̃ɚˌnɛt]
• Hyphenation: Inter‧net
• Rhymes: -ɛt

the Internet

2. The global, decentralized network of computers which communicate with one another using the Internet protocol suite, which now forms a vital part of global communication, content sharing, and information exchange systems.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:Internet

   • 2008, Lou Schuler, "Foreword", in Nate Green, Built for Show, page xi

     [I]f you think the Internet existed in 1970, I can only guess that the education system has left at least one child behind.

3. (by extension, informal) The global community of individuals communicating via the Internet.
   • 2000 March 8, 32:26 from the start, in Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China‎^[1], spoken by Bill Clinton, via C-SPAN, retrieved 17 June 2025:

     We know how much the Internet has changed America. And we are already an open society. Imagine how much it could change China. Now, there is no question – China has been trying to crack down on the Internet. Good luck. That's sort of like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall.

   • 2024 November 4, Kate Lindsay, “Can We Please Not Politicize Peanut's Death?”, in Vulture‎^[2], archived from the original on 24 November 2024:

     Not to be confused with the Josh Hutcherson Saturday Night Live sketch that's almost impossible to find online, the tragedy of Peanut, an Instagram-famous squirrel that was euthanized late last month, has sent the internet into mourning.

• When referring to the global internet, the proper noun was originally usually capitalised (Internet), reserving internet with a lowercase i for the common noun, referring to any other set of computer networks connected by internetworking; however, increasingly, the proper noun sense also takes a lowercase i. Compare similar examples in how the proper names for the Sun (the sun), the Moon (the moon), the Universe (the universe), and the World (the world) are variably capitalized in English orthography.
• The internet, the World Wide Web (the Web, the web), and cyberspace are often loosely treated as synonymous, but in careful usage, each of those terms has a more precise meaning, overlapping in a semantic field.

• extranet
• intranet

• Internet on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• renitent

Borrowed from English Internet.

• Audio:

  (file)

Internet (uncountable)

1. the Internet

Borrowed from English Internet.

Internet m

1. Internet

Borrowed from English Internet.

• IPA^(key): /ˈɪn.tərˌnɛt/
• Hyphenation: In‧ter‧net

Internet n

1. superseded spelling of internet

• internet

Borrowed from English Internet.

• IPA^(key): /ˈint(ː)ernet/, [ˈin̪t̪(ː)e̞rne̞t̪]
• Rhymes: -internet
• Syllabification^(key): In‧ter‧net
• Hyphenation^(key): In‧ter‧net

Internet

1. (Internet) the Internet

• netti
• (imprecisely) verkko (“Web”), www
• (colloquially, imprecisely) veppi, weppi, webbi

Borrowed from English Internet.

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.tɛʁ.nɛt/

• Audio (France (Paris)):

  (file)

• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

Internet m

1. the Internet

   Synonyms: internet, Net

Generally used without the definite article in French, unlike English; thus "on the Internet" in French is sur Internet.

Borrowed from English Internet.

• IPA^(key): /ˈɪntɐnɛt/

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Internet n (strong, genitive Internets or Internet, no plural)

1. internet

• While the genitive Internet is often seen, the more Germanic Internets is more frequently used. For example:

  Der Einfluss des Internets nimmt weiter zu.

  The influence of the internet continues to grow.

• Internet der Dinge

• “Internet” in Duden online
• “Internet”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎^[3] (in German)

Borrowed from Brazilian Portuguese Internet.

• IPA^(key): /intəˈnet/
• Rhymes: -et
• Syllabification: In‧ter‧net

Internet n

1. Internet (the global network of computers)

   Ich hon’s im Internet gesihn.

   I've seen it on the internet.

2. internet (Internet access or connection)

• Boll, Piter Kehoma (2021), “Internet”, in Dicionário Hunsriqueano Riograndense–Português, 3rd edition (overall work in Portuguese), Ivoti: Riograndenser Hunsrickisch, page 83, column 1

Borrowed from English Internet.

• IPA^(key): [ˈɪn̥tɛrˌnɛːt]

Internet n (proper noun, genitive singular Internets)

1. (usually definite) the Internet

   Synonyms: net, alnet, lýðnet

• veraldarvefur (“World Wide Web”)

Unadapted borrowing from English Internet.

• IPA^(key): /ˈin.ter.net/, /in.terˈnɛt/^[1]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -internet, -ɛt
• Hyphenation: Ìn‧ter‧net, In‧ter‧nèt

Internet f (invariable)

1. alternative form of internet

• nitrente, trentine

Internet n

1. Internet

• internet

Borrowed from English Internet.

• IPA^(key): /inˈtɛr.nɛt/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛrnɛt
• Syllabification: In‧ter‧net

Internet m inan

1. the Internet

• “Internet”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[4] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “Internet”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[5] (in Polish)

• internet

Unadapted borrowing from English Internet.

Internet f

1. World Wide Web (an information space on the Internet)

   Synonyms: web, rede, net

2. Internet (specific internet consisting of the global network of computers)

• → Hunsrik: Internet

Borrowed from English Internet.

• IPA^(key): /înternet/
• Hyphenation: In‧ter‧net

Ȉnternet m animacy unspecified (Cyrillic spelling И̏нтернет)

1. Internet

Borrowed from English Internet.

Internet m or f same meaning (uncountable)

1. alternative letter-case form of internet
   • 2015 August 11, Hope King, “Verizon quiere hacer que el internet sea 1.000 veces más rápido”, in CNN en Español‎^[6]:

     Recientemente, Comcast acaba de empezar a ofrecer el Internet más rápido del país a 2 gigabits por segundo el mes pasado.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Borrowed from English Internet.

Internet n (genitive Internets)

1. the (global) Internet