Internet

A system connecting computers around the world using a common software protocol for transmitting and receiving data. This protocol is known as TCP/IP, which stands for Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol.

Did You Know? Although the Internet is an immense global network that reaches millions of homes and businesses, it began as a relatively simple computer network called ARPANET, funded by a Department of Defense research agency. ARPANET linked educational institutions and research facilities. Users could transfer files, send e-mail, and post messages in a forum called USENET. Later, the development of HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol) allowed users to make connections from one electronic document to others by using hyperlinks. Such hyperlinked electronic documents (called webpages) can consist of text, pictures, and sound files. Over a billion of these webpages form the World Wide Web. The transmission of webpages, e-mails, files, and similar electronic data takes place on the massive network known as the Internet. What began as a simple way for military and educational researchers to communicate has developed into an international means of communicating ideas, as well as transmitting text, pictures, sound files, and even entire movies.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Student Science, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.