Network is an obvious compound of the nouns net and work. Originally, in the 16th century, it referred to anything made of threads or wires or suchlike in the pattern of intersecting lines or meshes resembling a net.
Through different eras, network developed senses to reflect the modes of human connection prevalent at the time. Network in the sense “natural features forming a chain, as islands, or a man-made system of interconnecting railroads, canals, telegraphs, or telephones” dates from the 19th century. The sense “a system to broadcast radio and television signals by many transmitters over a very wide area” dates from before World War I. The meaning “system of interconnected computers” dates from the 1960s, while the sense of a “group of individuals having a common interest” is earlier, from the 1940s.

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