Internet
The network that connects anyone to anything and isolates everyone from many things. Infrastructure, marketplace, and battlefield.
How We Say It
inΒ·tΙrΒ·net
Where It Comes From
Short for internetwork β a network of networks. The term emerged in the 1970s with the development of TCP/IP protocols that let disparate networks interconnect. The Department of Defense's ARPANET, launched in 1969, was its precursor. Became the dominant global network through the 1990s.
How It's Been Used
Distinguished from the World Wide Web β the Web is one service running on the Internet, alongside email, file transfer, and others. Public commercial use began in the early 1990s. The transition from a relatively decentralized network to one dominated by a few platform companies is one of the major political-economic developments of the early 21st century.