Have you ever felt scared about using the Internet because you didn't know what everyone was saying? Are you clueless about what a url is or if you speak html? This glossary will provide you with easy-to-read definitions of the most common Internet terms. Soon you too will be speaking the language of the Internet!
To go straight to a specific word, click on the first letter of the word and you'll see the words in the glossary that begin with that letter.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
This word is used in a few ways.
application
The term application is a shorter form of application program. An application program is a program designed to perform a specific function directly for the user or, in some cases, for another application program. Examples of applications include word processors, database programs, web browsers, development tools, drawing, paint, image editing programs, and communication programs.
asynchronous
In general, asynchronous (pronounced ay-SIHN-kro-nuhs, from Greek asyn-, meaning "not with," and chronos, meaning "time") is an adjective describing objects or events that don't happen at the same time. Much of online learning is asynchronous, meaning that all learning does not take place at the same time and there is no set time for participants to "attend" class.
A measurement of how much information can be sent or received at a given time over the Internet.
bookmark
Using a World Wide Web browser, a bookmark is a saved link to a webpage that has been added to a list of saved links. When you are looking at a website or homepage and want to be able to quickly get back to it later, you can create a bookmark for it. You can think of your browser as a book full of millions of webpages and a few well-placed bookmarks that you have chosen. The list that contains your bookmarks is the "bookmark list" (and sometimes it's called a "hotlist.")
Netscape and some other browsers use the bookmark idea. Microsoft's Internet Explorer uses the term "favorite."
A hint when using bookmarks: It is often a good idea to hit the refresh button (see the page on the parts of a browser for more information on the refresh button). This reloads the page with the newest information.
boot
To boot (as a verb; also "to boot up") a computer is to load an operating system. Once the operating system is loaded (and, for example, on a PC, you see the initial Windows or Mac desktop screen), it's ready for users to run programs. Sometimes you'll see an instruction to "reboot" the operating system. This simply means to reload the operating system (the most familiar way to do this on PCs is pressing the Ctrl, Alt, and Delete keys at the same time).
browser
A browser is an application program that provides a way to look at all the information on the World Wide Web. Some of the most popular browsers are Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Netscape Navigator.
A chat room is a website, part of a website, or part of an online service that provides a place for communities of users to communicate in real time.
click
A click is when the user presses down (clicks) on a mouse button on a specific space.
cookie
A cookie is information that a website puts on your hard drive so that it can remember something about you at a later time (Remember what you read about spyware on the security page?) Typically, a cookie records your preferences when using a website. Web users must agree to let cookies be saved for them, but, in general, it helps websites to serve users better.
Downloading is the sending of a file from one computer system to another, usually smaller computer system. From the Internet user's point-of-view, to download a file is to request it from another computer (or from a webpage on another computer) and to receive it.
drop down menu
A menu of options that appears below the item when the item is clicked on or the mouse is moved over it.
On the Internet in email, chatting, and text messaging, an emoticon (sometimes referred to by the name of the original emoticon, the smiley) is a short sequence of keyboard letters and symbols, usually looking like a facial expression, expressing a feeling that adds tothe message. Due to the lack of tone of voice in the online world, emoticons help to make the author's meaning clear.
There are many different emoticons used today. Here is a list of the most frequently used emoticons.
See bookmark.
In a web browser, the history is a detailed list of websites the computer has visited which remains in a computer's memory for a set number of days. (The number of days the computer keeps its history can be set in the browser's preferences.) History can be used to backtrack where you have gone on the web; the list of websites in a browser's history can be viewed by date, time of day, title, address (URL), alphabetical order, or number of repeat visits.
homepage
For a web user, the homepage is the first webpage that is shown after starting a web browser like Netscape's Navigator or Microsoft's Internet Explorer. The usual address for a website is the homepage address.
html
HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is the set of markup symbols or codes inserted in a file intended for display on a World Wide Web browser page. The markup tells the web browser how to display a webpage's words and images for the user.
http
HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is the set of rules for transferring files (text, graphic images, sound, video, and other multimedia files) on the World Wide Web.
On a webpage, an icon is often an image that represents the topic or information category of another Web page. Frequently, the icon is a hypertext link to that page.
ISP
An ISP (Internet service provider) is a company that provides individuals and other companies access to the Internet and other related services such as website building and virtual hosting.
A link is a connection from one word, picture, or object to another. In a multimedia environment such as the World Wide Web, such objects can have sound and motion video sequences. The most common form of link is the highlighted word or picture that can be selected by the user (with a mouse or in some other way), which makes another file open. Links can also be recognized by a change in the cursor such as turning into a pointing hand.
listserv
Listserv is a small program that automatically redistributes email to names on a mailing list. Users can subscribe to a mailing list by sending an email note to a mailing list they learn about; listserv will automatically add the name and distribute future email postings to every subscriber.
Plug-in applications are programs that can easily be installed and used as part of your web browser. A plug-in application is recognized automatically by the browser and its function is integrated into the main HTML file that is being presented.
RAM (random access memory) is the place in a computer where the operating system, application programs, and data in current use are kept so that they can be quickly reached by the computer's processor. RAM is much faster to read from and write to than the other kinds of storage in a computer, the hard disk, floppy disk, and CD-ROM. However, the data in RAM stays there only as long as your computer is running. When you turn the computer off, RAM loses its data. When you turn your computer on again, your operating system and other files are once again loaded into RAM, usually from your hard disk.
ROM
ROM is "built-in" computer memory containing data that normally can only be read, not written to. ROM contains the programming that allows your computer to be "booted up" each time you turn it on. Unlike a computer's random access memory (RAM), the data in ROM is not lost when the computer power is turned off. The ROM is sustained by a small long-life battery in your computer.
In information technology, a server is a computer program that provides services to other computer programs (and their users) in the same or other computers. The computer that a server program runs in is also frequently referred to as a server (though it may be used for other purposes as well).
search engine
On the Internet, a search engine is a set of programs that includes:
An alternative to using a search engine is to explore a structured directory of topics. Yahoo, which also lets you use its search engine, is the most widely-used directory on the web. A number of web portal sites offer both the search engine and directory approaches to finding information.
spam
Spam is unasked for email on the Internet. From the sender's point-of-view, spam is a form of bulk mail, often sent to a list obtained from a spambot or to a list obtained by companies that specialize in creating email distribution lists. To the receiver, it usually seems like junk email.
Spam is roughly equivalent to unasked for telephone marketing calls except that the user pays for part of the message since everyone shares the cost of maintaining the Internet. Spammers typically send a piece of email to a distribution list in the millions, expecting that only a tiny number of readers will respond to their offer. It has become a major problem for all Internet users.
spyware
Spyware is any technology that aids in gathering information about a person or organization without their knowledge. On the Internet (where it is sometimes called a spybot or tracking software), spyware is programming that is put in someone's computer to secretly gather information about the user and relay it to advertisers or other interested parties. Spyware can get in a computer as a software virus or as the result of installing a new program.
A URL (Uniform Resource Locator, previously Universal Resource Locator) - usually pronounced by sounding out each letter but, in some quarters, pronounced "Earl" - is the unique address for a file that is accessible on the Internet. An example of a url is http://www.valrc.org. See address for more information.
Entries modified from Whatis.com and Internet 101.