Meanings
- InternetUsually preceded by the: all of the hypertext documents (web pages) on the Internet collectively, which are (1) stored in various inter-hyperlinked computers around the world, and (2) retrieved typically by means of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) or (currently more often) its secure version (HTTPS), among others.
Anxiety about the World Wide Web tends to center on its excesses, on the overabundance of information, the overstimulation of graphics and gimmicks, the multiplicity of links.
2000, Jodi Dean, “Webs of Conspiracy”, in Andrew Herman, Thomas Swiss, editors, The World Wide Web and Contemporary Cultural Theory, New York, N.Y.; Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Routledge, →ISBN, page 635 more examples
WorldWideWeb: Proposal for a HyperText Project [title] […] Having a world wide web implies some solutions must be found for problems such as different access protocols and different node content formats. These issues are addressed by our proposal.
[1990 November 12, Tim Berners-Lee, Robert Cailliau, “WorldWideWeb: Proposal for a HyperText Project”, in World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), archived from the original on 10 Nov 2020Additionally, gateways exist so that WAIS users can retrieve information from non-WAIS data bases like Gopher, developed by university users of Next computers, and the World Wide Web, which makes available physicists' research from many locations.
1993 February 28, John Markoff, “A web of networks, an abundance of services”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 09 Nov 2020, page 8The mutant has made its way into a major orchestra, giving the much-slandered, much-abused alto string instrument more attention than it has had since an entire series of pages on the World Wide Web was devoted to viola jokes
1997 August 9, Edward Rothstein, “A Comeback for the Viola. No Joking.”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 27 Feb 2021Although the Internet has long been used to communicate a wealth of information, it was the rise of the World Wide Web, beginning in 1994, that led to the Internet's most rapid growth and acceptance as a medium of commerce. The Web can be thought of as the Internet's popular "multimedia" segment and is a primary platform for electronic commerce.
2003, Julian S. Millstein, Jeffrey D. Neuburger, Jeffrey P. Weingart, “Introduction to the Internet”, in Doing Business on the Internet (Intellectual Property Law Series), New York, N.Y.: Law Journal Press, →ISBN, § 1.03 (The World Wide Web), page 1-6.4Consider for a moment that the Internet is about 40 years old, the microelectronics explosion happened only 30 years ago, the desktop computer appeared only about 25 years ago, the World Wide Web is really only a little more than a decade old, and that ubiquitous wireless Internet access is only now becoming a reality. Despite only relatively recent developmental history, we are facing an information explosion on the World Wide Web, making it necessary to build a better Web—an Intelligent Web—that will help users easily realize their information and communication needs.
2008, Rajendra Akerkar, Pawan Lingras, “Introduction to Web Intelligence”, in Building an Intelligent Web: Theory and Practice, Sudbury, Mass.: Jones & Bartlett Publishers, →ISBN, section 1.1 (Historical Perspective), page 1
Synonyms & antonyms
proper nounUsually preceded by the: all of the hypertext documents (web pages) on the Internet collectively, which are (1) stored in various inter-hyperlinked computers around the world, and (2) retrieved typically by means of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) or (currently more often) its secure version (HTTPS), among others.
More synonyms by meaning
nouncomputer network consisting of a collection of internet sites that offer text and graphics and sound and animation resources through the hypertext transfer protocol
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From worldwide + web. Coined by English computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee and Belgian engineer and computer scientist Robert Cailliau in a paper published on 12 November 1990 (see quotations below).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans Wêreldwye web
- Wêreldwye weball of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
Arabic شَبَكَة عَنْكَبُوتِيَّة عَالَمِيَّة, نَسِيج عَنْكَبُوتِي عَالَمِي
- شَبَكَة عَنْكَبُوتِيَّة عَالَمِيَّةall of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
- نَسِيج عَنْكَبُوتِي عَالَمِي (nasīj ʕankabūtī ʕālamī)all of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
Bengali বিশ্বব্যাপী জাল
- বিশ্বব্যাপী জাল (biśbabāpī-jāl)all of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
Bulgarian Световна мрежа
- Световна мрежа (Svetovna mreža)all of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
Catalan World Wide Web
- World Wide Weball of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
Chinese Mandarin 萬維網 /万维网
- 萬維網 /万维网 (Wànwéiwǎng)all of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
Danish webben
- webbenall of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
Esperanto Tut-Tera Teksaĵo
- Tut-Tera Teksaĵoall of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
Finnish maailmanlaajuinen tietoverkko, verkko
- maailmanlaajuinen tietoverkkoall of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
- verkkoall of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
- weball of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
- WWWall of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
French Toile d'araignée mondiale, Toile mondiale
- Toile d'araignée mondialeall of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
- Toile mondialeall of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
- Toileall of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
German World Wide Web
- World Wide Weball of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
Greek Παγκόσμιος Ιστός
- Παγκόσμιος Ιστός (Pagkósmios Istós)all of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
Hawaiian Pūnaewele Puni Honua
- Pūnaewele Puni Honuaall of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
Hindi विश्वव्यापी संजाल
- विश्वव्यापी संजाल (viśvavyāpī-sanjāl)all of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
Hungarian világháló
- világhálóall of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
Icelandic veraldarvefurinn
- veraldarvefurinnall of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
Indonesian Waring Wera Wanua, Jaringan Jagat Jembar
- Waring Wera Wanuaall of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
- Jaringan Jagat Jembarall of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
Irish Gréasán Domhanda
- Gréasán Domhandaall of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
Japanese ワールドワイドウェブ
- ワールドワイドウェブ (Wārudo Waido Uebu)all of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
Korean 월드 와이드 웹
- 월드 와이드 웹 (Woldeu waideu wep)all of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
Latin Tela Totius Terrae
- Tela Totius Terraeall of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
Lithuanian saitynas, žiniatinklis
- saitynasall of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
- žiniatinklisall of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
Malay jaringan sejagat
- jaringan sejagatall of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
Māori Tukutuku Ao Whānui
- Tukutuku Ao Whānuiall of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
Norwegian Bokmål verdensveven
- verdensvevenall of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
Persian وب جهانگستر, شبکه جهانگستر
- وب جهانگستر (veb e jahân-gostar)all of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
- شبکه جهانگستر (šabake-ye jahân-gostar)all of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
Polish World Wide Web, ogólnoświatowa sieć
- World Wide Weball of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
- ogólnoświatowa siećall of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
Portuguese net, rede
- netall of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
- redeall of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
- rede mundial de computadoresall of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
- weball of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
Russian Всеми́рная паути́на, веб
- Всеми́рная паути́на (Vsemírnaja pautína)all of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
- веб (veb)all of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
Swedish webb
- webball of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
Tagalog pandaigdigang-sapot, sapot
- pandaigdigang-sapotall of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
- sapotall of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
Tamil உலகளாவிய வலை
- உலகளாவிய வலை (ulakaḷāviya valai)all of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
Thai เวิลด์ไวด์เว็บ
- เวิลด์ไวด์เว็บ (wəəl-waai-wép)all of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
Turkish World Wide Web, Dünya Çapında Ağ
- World Wide Weball of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
- Dünya Çapında Ağall of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
Ukrainian Всесві́тнє павути́ння, веб
- Всесві́тнє павути́ння (Vsesvítnje pavutýnnja)all of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
- веб (veb)all of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
Urdu بین الشبکہ, عالمی جال
- بین الشبکہ (bain-uś-śabaka)all of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
- عالمی جال (ālamī-jāl)all of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
- عالمی شبکہ (ālamī-śabaka)all of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
- عالم گیر جال (ālam-gīr-jāl)all of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
Welsh Gwe Fyd-Eang
- Gwe Fyd-Eangall of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
Zulu Isizindalwazi sokuxhumana somhlaba jikelele
- Isizindalwazi sokuxhumana somhlaba jikeleleall of the web pages on the Internet that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with World Wide Web
All rhymes →Cite this entry
World Wide Web. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/World%20Wide%20Web
“World Wide Web.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/World%20Wide%20Web. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “World Wide Web,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/World%20Wide%20Web.
Source: World Wide Web on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.