Usenet

noun

Use·​net ˈyüz-ˌnet How to pronounce Usenet (audio)
: the aggregate of all newsgroups on the Internet

Examples of Usenet in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The Usenet group’s archives from that era appear to have been lost. Matt Curtis, New York Times, 21 June 2023 Gorski’s far more bristling approach, birthed in the baptismal fires of Usenet flame wars, is a good representation of skeptic culture, where the quality of the information is far more important than civility. Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling, The New Republic, 28 Feb. 2023 On a Usenet group in 1989, someone started a thread to discuss which actresses where the most attractive. WIRED, 21 Feb. 2023 By March 1994, when AOL connected its one million subscribers to Usenet, soft moderation tactics had begun to dissolve; the newbies had no idea that there were particular social mores, folkways, and protocols that had been designed by their predecessors. Hannah Zeavin, Harper’s Magazine , 22 June 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'Usenet.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

probably from Usenix, an association of computer programmers using the operating system Unix (from users of Unix) + net entry 1 (network)

First Known Use

1980, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of Usenet was in 1980

Dictionary Entries Near Usenet

Cite this Entry

“Usenet.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Usenet. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

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