net
pronunciation
How to pronounce net in British English:
UK [net]
How to pronounce net in American English:
US [net]
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- Noun:
- a trap made of netting to catch fish or birds or insects
- the excess of revenues over outlays in a given period of time (including depreciation and other non-cash expenses)
- a goal lined with netting (as in soccer or hockey)
- game equipment consisting of a strip of netting dividing the playing area in tennis or badminton
- an open fabric of string or rope or wire woven together at regular intervals
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- Verb:
- make as a net profit
- yield as a net profit
- construct or form a web, as if by weaving
- catch with a net
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- Adjective:
- remaining after all deductions
- conclusive in a process or progression
Word Origin
- net
- net: English has two distinct words net. The commoner and more ancient, ‘mesh’ [OE], is a widespread Germanic word: German has the related netz, Dutch and Danish net, and Swedish nät. Its ultimate origins are not known, although a link with Latin nassa ‘wicker basket for catching fish’ has been suggested. Net ‘without deductions’ [14] comes from French net, which was borrowed into English again two centuries later as neat.It was originally used, like its French source, for ‘trim, clean’, but this developed via ‘unadulterated, unmixed’ to, by the early 16th century, ‘free from any (further) deduction’. The alternative spelling nett dates from the 16th century.=> neat
- net (n.)
- Old English net "netting, network, spider web, mesh used for capturing," also figuratively, "moral or mental snare or trap," from Proto-Germanic *natjan (cognates: Old Saxon net, Old Norse, Dutch net, Swedish nät, Old High German nezzi, German Netz, Gothic nati "net"), originally "something knotted," from PIE *ned- "to twist, knot" (cognates: Sanskrit nahyati "binds, ties," Latin nodus "knot," Old Irish nascim "I bind, oblige").
- net (adj.)
- "remaining after deductions," 1510s, from earlier sense of "trim, elegant, clean, neat" (c. 1300), from Old French net "clean, pure," from Latin nitere "to shine, look bright, glitter" (see neat). Meaning influenced by Italian netto "remaining after deductions." As a noun, 1910.
- net (v.2)
- "to gain as a net sum," 1758, from net (adj.). Related: Netted; netting.
- net (v.1)
- "to capture in a net," early 15c., from net (n.). Related: Netted; netting.
Example
- 1. His net asset is 2 dollar .
- 2. The net is closing around old-fashioned secret-service methods .
- 3. America 's recent stimulus package strengthened this safety net .
- 4. Even portugal 's net debt was 59 per cent of gdp .
- 5. Net cash on its balance sheet fell by 1.2 billion to 4.4 billion last year .