net

Clipping of English Nete.

net

1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Nete.

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Nete terms

From Middle English net, from Old English net, nett, from Proto-West Germanic *nati, from Proto-Germanic *natją, from Proto-Indo-European *ned- (“to turn, twist, knot”).

Cognate with West Frisian net, Low German Nett, Dutch net, German Netz, Danish net, Swedish nät.

• enPR: nĕt, IPA^(key): /nɛt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛt

net (plural nets)

1. A mesh of string, cord or rope.

   a hairnet; a mosquito net; a tennis net

2. A device made from such mesh, used for catching fish, butterflies, etc.
   • 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:

     Then there came a reg'lar terror of a sou'wester same as you don't get one summer in a thousand, and blowed the shanty flat and ripped about half of the weir poles out of the sand. We spent consider'ble money getting 'em reset, and then a swordfish got into the pound and tore the nets all to slathers, right in the middle of the squiteague season.

3. A device made from such mesh, generally used for trapping something.
   • 1983, Richard Ellis, The Book of Sharks, Knopf, →ISBN, page 190:

     The nets have to be checked to make sure that they are not tangled up and therefore useless, and the carcasses of the dead sharks are removed.

4. Anything that has the appearance of such a device.

   Petri net

5. (by extension) A trap.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs xxix:5:

     A man that flattereth his neighbor spreadeth a net for his feet.

   caught in the prosecuting attorney's net

6. (geometry) Any set of polygons joined edge to edge that, when folded along the edges between adjoining polygons so that the outer edges touch, form a given polyhedron.
7. A system that interconnects a number of users, locations etc. allowing transport or communication between them.
   1. (electronics) A conductor that interconnects two or more component terminals.
8. (sports) A framework backed by a mesh, serving as the goal in hockey, soccer, lacrosse, etc.
   • 2010 December 29, Mark Vesty, “Wigan 2-2 Arsenal”, in BBC:

     Wigan had N'Zogbia sent off late on but Squillaci headed into his own net to give the home side a deserved point.

   The striker headed the ball into the net to make it 1-0.

9. (sports, tennis) A mesh stretched to divide the court in tennis, badminton, volleyball, etc.
10. (tennis, by extension) The area of the court close to the net (mesh stretched to divide the court).

• (mesh): mesh, network
• (used for catching or trapping):
• (figurative: a trap): snare, trap
• (anything that has the appearance of a net): reticulation
• (in geometry): development
• (in computing): network

net (third-person singular simple present nets, present participle netting, simple past and past participle netted)

1. (transitive) To catch by means of a net.
2. (transitive, figuratively) To catch in a trap, or by stratagem.
   • 1814 July 7, [Walter Scott], Waverley; or, ’Tis Sixty Years Since. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh:  […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC:

     And now I am here, netted and in the toils.

3. To enclose or cover with a net.

   to net a tree

   • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto II”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC:

     Old Yew, which graspest at the stones
     ⁠That name the under-lying dead,
     ⁠Thy fibres net the dreamless head,
     Thy roots are wrapt about the bones.

4. (transitive, soccer) To score (a goal).

   Evans netted the winner in the 80th minute.

   • 2012, Chelsea 6-0 Wolves‎^[3]:

     Romeu then scored a penalty, Torres netted a header and Moses added the sixth from substitute Oscar's cross.

5. (tennis) To hit the ball into the net.
   • 2011 June 28, David Ornstein, “Wimbledon 2011: Victoria Azarenka beats Tamira Paszek in quarters”, in BBC Sport‎^[4]:

     Azarenka whipped a sensational forehand around the net post to break for 2-0 in the second set, followed it up with a love hold and moved to 5-1 when Paszek netted a forehand.

6. To form a netting or network; to knit.
   • 1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC:

     I was shown into a pretty but rather close drawing-room, and there sat Agnes, netting a purse.

• (catch by means of a net): catch
• (to trap): catch, ensnare, entrap, snare, trap

From Middle English net, nette, from Old French net, from Latin nitidus. Doublet of neat and nitid.

• nett

• enPR: nĕt, IPA^(key): /nɛt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛt

net (not comparable)

1. (obsolete) Good, desirable; clean, decent, clear.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     Her brest all naked, as net iuory, / Without adorne of gold or siluer bright […]

2. Free from extraneous substances; pure; unadulterated; neat.

   net wine

3. Remaining after expenses or deductions.

   net profit; net weight

4. Final; end.

   net result; net conclusion

net (not comparable)

1. After expenses or deductions.

   You'll have $5000 net.

• net net

net (plural nets)

2. The amount remaining after expenses or other kinds of deductions are subtracted.

   Hyponyms: net profit, net earnings, net weight; net net

   Coordinate term: gross

   Our net on that transaction was only fourteen dollars.

   The net on that container was only fourteen tons.

• net net, net-net
• on net

net (third-person singular simple present nets, present participle netting, simple past and past participle netted)

1. (transitive) To receive as profit.

   The company nets $30 on every sale.

2. (transitive) To yield as profit for.

   The scam netted the criminals $30,000.

3. To fully hedge a position.

   Every party is netting their position with a counter-party.

• net out

Borrowed from Middle French nettoyer (“to cleanse”).

• enPR: nĕt, IPA^(key): /nɛt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛt

net (third-person singular simple present nets, present participle netting, simple past and past participle netted)^[1][2]

1. (dialectal) To clean, wash, rinse.

• netting

net

1. Alternative spelling of nyet.
   • 1961, Odette Tchernine, “The Russians Investigate”, in The Snowman and Company, London: Robert Hale, →OCLC, page 59:

     Or again, the Russian Government may now take a poor view of publicizing rumours of Snowmen being sighted within their own frontiers. They may prefer to say Net to the prospect of dealing with inquiring foreigners who might ask for permission to go rampaging for footprints and sightings all over their mountains.

   • 1971, Bulletin, Munich: Institute for the Study of the USSR, →OCLC, page 29:

     Communist propaganda has created for Russia a reputation of a “peace-loving” power which it values. It cannot, therefore, afford to say net to any and every Western proposal.

   • 1983, Colin Thubron, “Leningrad”, in Among the Russians, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, page 74:

     Then as now this impersonal vastness was the public face of Russia. Its voice, if it had one, intoned an unmistakable Net. And all the canals and looking-glass mansions, in their courtly but firm way, were saying Net too.

   • 1995, William Minor, “The Ukraine, in Joy and Sorrow”, in Unzipped Souls: A Jazz Journey through the Soviet Union, Philadlephia, Pa.: Temple University Press, →ISBN, part 3 (Leningrad and the Republics), page 160:

     He asked me what nationality I was, and I replied, “American.” / “Net, net,” he cried. “What nationality?”

   • 1998, Tālavs Jundzis, editor, Baltijas valstis likten̦griežos: Politiskas, ekonomiskas un tiesiskas starptautiskās sadarbības problēmas uz XXI gadu simten̦a sliekšn̦a […] (overall work in Latvian), Riga: Latvijas Zinātn̦u akadēmija, →ISBN, page 454:

     Sal. Russia says ‘net’ to border deal / / The Baltic Times. – 1997.

   • 2001, ArtChronika, numbers 1–3, Moscow, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 81, column 1:

     The idea to buy Soviet art was born around 1985, however it took three years to overcome problems, starting with both government USSR and USA both say net. That was predictable. It was during the cold war. The Russians were viewed as the enemy and vice versa.

   • 2009, Stephen A. Phillips, “The Visa”, in From Moscow with Love, Pittsburgh, Pa.: Dorrance Publishing Co., →ISBN, page 57:

     But how could she ever meet him since he was half way around the world, a Visa was $175, and the plane trip to Moscow was $298. After all, she only made $90 a month. […] Net! Net! Net! She cried and buried her head into her pillow. Net! Net! Net! She spoke the muffled words into her pillow as she hit her fist upon the bed.

   • 2012, Albert Joseph, “Politics”, in Humor Hardly Hurts, [Bloomington, Ind.]: Xlibris, →ISBN, page 70:

     Then he heard Molotov say “net” several times, after which he reverted back to “da.” Curious as to how Molotov had the courage to say “no” to Stalin, he asked Molotov about their conversation and what questions Molotov was replying “no” to.

   • 2018, Katherine Johnson, chapter 2, in Matryoshka, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ventura Press, →ISBN:

     They thought I wasted their money, their food. Their husbands! Net!

• net and rouf

• ent, -ent, ENT, Ent, ten, TEN, ent-

From Dutch net.

• Audio:

  (file)

net

1. only, just

From Proto-Albanian *náti, from Pre-Proto-Albanian *náte < *náteh.^[1]

net

1. indefinite nominative/accusative plural of natë

• ned

From Middle High German nicht, from Old High German niowiht. Cognates include German nicht and Luxembourgish net.

• IPA^(key): /ned̥/, /nɛd̥/
• Hyphenation: net

net

1. not
   • 1938, Josef Weinheber, Wien wörtlich, Sieg der Provinz:

     I waaß net, es gibt so vü' Dichter in Wien,
     und ålle geehrt und berühmt.

     I didn't know there were so many poets in Vienna,
     and all honorable and famous.

• Maria Hornung, Sigmar Grüner (2002) “ned, nęd, net, nęt”, in Wörterbuch der Wiener Mundart, 2nd edition, ÖBV & HPT
• Petr Šubrt (2010) Wiener dialekt (master thesis), Masaryk University, page 62

From Old Catalan net, from Vulgar Latin *nittus, syncopated from Latin nitidus (“bright, clear”). Doublet of nèdol ('pasturage'), from Old Catalan nèdeu (“clean”), from nitidus- but without the early syncope. Compare also French net, Italian netto.

• IPA^(key): (Central) [ˈnɛt]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ˈnət]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈnet]

• Audio (Catalonia):

  (file)

net (feminine neta, masculine plural nets, feminine plural netes)

1. clean

   Antonyms: brut, sutze

2. net
3. (castells) (of a castell) built without a pinya, or without a folre or manilles when it would normally have these

• netament

• netejar

net

1. cleanly

Derived in masculine from the feminine neta, from Late Latin nepta, from Latin neptis (“granddaughter”). Compare Portuguese neto and Spanish nieto.

• nét (pre-2016)

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈnet]

• Audio:

  (file)

net m (plural nets, feminine neta, feminine plural netes)

1. grandson

   Coordinate term: nebot

• “net”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “net”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “net” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “net” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
• “nét” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

• nit (Kölsch)

From Old High German niowiht.

• IPA^(key): /net/, /nət/

net

1. (most dialects) not

   Dat es jar net wohr!

   That’s not true at all!

• nemmieh (contraction with mieh)

• nüüs, neist, nix

• IPA^(key): /nɛt/, [ˈnɛd̥]

From German nett, from Old French net (“neat”), from Latin nitidus (“shining”).

net (plural and definite singular attributive nette)

1. visually pleasing and proper; well-groomed

Older ned, from Old Norse net, from Proto-Germanic *natją, cognate with Swedish nät, English net, German Netz. The modern Danish form, with -t instead of regular -d, is influenced by Low German Nett.

net n (singular definite nettet, plural indefinite net)

1. net, web
2. abbreviation of internet
3. tote bag

• IPA^(key): /nɛt/
• Hyphenation: net
• Rhymes: -ɛt

From Middle Dutch net, nette, from Old Dutch *net, *netti, from Proto-Germanic *natją, from Proto-Indo-European *ned- (“to turn, twist, knot”).

net n (plural netten, diminutive netje n)

1. net (mesh)
2. net (device for catching and trapping)
3. television channel

   Synonyms: kanaal, zender

4. television network (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?)
5. omentum, caul
6. a network, especially the Internet

   Synonyms: internet, web

• Negerhollands: net
• → Indonesian: net
• → Lokono: nete
• → Papiamentu: nèt

From Middle Dutch net, which is borrowed from Old French net, from Latin nitidus.^[1]

net (comparative netter, superlative netst)

1. clean, tidy
2. decent, proper

• Negerhollands: net
• → Papiamentu: nèt

net

1. tidily, neatly
2. decently, properly
3. just, nearly, barely
4. just recently, just now

   Synonyms: zonet, zojuist, zo-even, zopas

• → Indonesian: necis (“neatly”)
• → Papiamentu: nèchi, netsje, netjes

• ent, ten

From Old Norse net, from Proto-Germanic *natją, from Proto-Indo-European *ned- (“to turn, twist, knot”). Cognate to Swedish nät.

net n

1. net

stem=strong ''a''-stem

From Old Norse net, from Proto-Germanic *natją, from Proto-Indo-European *ned- (“to turn, twist, knot”).

net n (genitive singular nets, plural net)

1. (fowling, sports) mesh, the material to make a "nót" (fishing net)
2. A network (computing)
3. A net for carrying hay

• eiturkoppanet

• tráður
• silkitráður
• lokkanet

From ne (“they”) +‎ -t (nominative plural). Compare Estonian need.

• IPA^(key): /ˈnet/, [ˈne̞t̪]
• Rhymes: -et
• Syllabification^(key): net
• Hyphenation^(key): net

net

1. (now dialectal, demonstrative) alternative form of ne
2. (dialectal, personal) alternative form of he

Same as ne except for the nominative plural form.

• -ten, ent.

From Old French net, inherited from Latin nitidus (“shiny”) through a contracted Vulgar Latin form *nittus. Doublet of nitide, a borrowing.

• IPA^(key): /nɛt/

• Audio (Paris):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛt
• Homophones: nets, nette, nettes

net (feminine nette, masculine plural nets, feminine plural nettes)

1. clean, tidy
2. clear
3. net (as opposed to gross)

• nettoyer

• → Romanian: net
• → Spanish: neto
• → Turkish: net

• “net”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

From Vulgar Latin *nittus, from Latin nitidus.

net

1. clean, neat

• netâ

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

net

1. completely, entirely

• IPA^(key): /nɛt/, /nət/

• Audio (Bavaria):

  (file)

• Audio (Southwest Germany):

  (file)

net

1. (Austria, Southern Germany, parts of Central Germany, colloquial) alternative form of nicht (“not”)

   Hab ich’s dir net erzählt?

   Have I not told you?

• ned, (internet slang) nd

• IPA^(key): [ˈnɛt]
• Hyphenation: net
• Rhymes: -ɛt

net (plural netek)

1. (informal, computing, Internet) Internet

   Synonym: internet

• nët (Wiesemann spelling system)

From Middle High German nicht, from Old High German niowiht. Cognates include German nicht and Luxembourgish net.

• IPA^(key): /net/

net

1. not

   Die Blum is net rod.

   The flower is not red.

   De Hund laafd net schnell.

   The dog does not run fast.

   De Mann essd de Eppel net.

   The man does not eat the apple.

   • 2018, João Cabral de Melo Neto, Cléo V. Altenhofen, Der Moint om Stricke:

     En Hoohn alleen strickt noch net en Moint

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

• Online Hunsrik Dictionary

From Old Norse net, from Proto-Germanic *natją, from Proto-Indo-European *ned- (“to turn, twist, knot”).

• IPA^(key): /nɛːt/
• Rhymes: -ɛːt

net n (genitive singular nets, nominative plural net)

1. net
2. (computing) network
3. (computing, usually definite) the Internet

   Synonym: Internet

   Ég þoli þetta ekki, ég kemst ekki á netið.

   I can't stand it, I can't connect to the internet.

From Dutch net, from Middle Dutch net, nette, from Old Dutch *net, *netti, from Proto-Germanic *natją, from Proto-Indo-European *ned- (“to turn, twist, knot”).

• IPA^(key): [ˈnɛt̚]
• Hyphenation: nèt

net (plural net-net)

1. (sports) net, a mesh stretched to divide the court in tennis, badminton, volleyball, etc

   Hyponym: jaring

• “net” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

From Finnish ne, from Proto-Finnic *nek. Cognates include Meänkieli net.

• IPA^(key): /ˈnet/

net

1. these, those

net

1. these, those
2. they

• (they): het

• Eira Söderholm (2017) Kvensk grammatikk‎^[5], Tromsø: Cappelen Damm Akademisk, →ISBN, page 278

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈnɛt]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈnɛt̪]

net

1. third-person singular present active subjunctive of nō
2. third-person singular present active indicative of neō

From ne (“no”) + a particle -t of indeterminate origin, perhaps formed similarly to bèt (“but, yet”).^[1][2]

nèt

1. even

   net jis verkė ― even he cried

   jis net verkė ― he even cried

• “net”, in Lietuvių kalbos žodynas [Dictionary of the Lithuanian language], lkz.lt, 1941–2025
• “net”, in Dabartinės lietuvių kalbos žodynas [Dictionary of contemporary Lithuanian], ekalba.lt, 1954–2025

From Old High German niowiht, from nio (“never”) + wiht (“thing, being”), from Proto-Germanic *ne (“not”) + *aiw- (“ever”) + *wiht- (“thing”). Compare English not, German nicht, Dutch niet, West Frisian net.

• IPA^(key): /net/, [nət]
  • Rhymes: -ət

net

1. not

From Proto-Finnic *nek +‎ -t (“nominative plural suffix”). Compare Finnish ne, net.

net

1. they

• nett, nette, nete

• IPA^(key): /nɛːt/, /nɛt/

Borrowed from Anglo-Norman neit, a variant of Old French net, nette, from Latin nitidus (“gleaming”).^[1]

net

1. worthy, good, pure, fine, elegant
2. net

• English: neat, net
• Scots: neat, nate
• Yola: neatt, neeat, naate, nate

Inherited from Old English nett.^[2]

net

1. net (a mesh of string, cord or rope)

• English: net

• naette (Guernsey)

From Old French net, from Vulgar Latin *nittus, from Latin nitidus (“shiny”).

• Audio:

  (file)

net m

1. (Jersey) clean

   Synonym: propre

   • 1903, Edgar MacCulloch, “Proverbs, Weather Sayings, etc.”, in Guernsey Folk Lore‎^[6], page 515:

     Tout neû g'nêt néquie net.

     A new broom sweeps clean.

• netti (“to clean”)

net n (definite singular netet, indefinite plural net, definite plural neta or neti)

1. (pre-2012) alternative form of nett

net n

1. alternative form of nett

From Vulgar Latin *nittus, syncopated from Latin nitidus (“shining, polished”).

• IPA^(key): /net/

net m (oblique and nominative feminine singular nete)

1. clean

• Anglo-Norman: neit
  • → Middle English: *nete
    • English: neat
    • Scots: neat
• French: net (see there for further descendants)
• → Breton: néat
• → Middle Dutch: net
  • Dutch: net
  • → Middle High German: nett (Lower Rhenish)
    • Alemannic German: nett
    • German: nett
      • → Danish: net
• → Middle English: net, nette
  • English: net (obsolete)
• → Spanish: neto (if not from Catalan)