Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Network \Net"work`\, n.
   1. A fabric of threads, cords, or wires crossing each other
      at certain intervals, and knotted or secured at the
      crossings, thus leaving spaces or meshes between them.

   2. Any system of lines or channels interlacing or crossing
      like the fabric of a net; as, a network of veins; a
      network of railroads.

Source : WordNet®

network
     v : communicate with and within a group; "You have to network if
         you want to get a good job"

network
     n 1: an interconnected system of things or people; "he owned a
          network of shops"; "retirement meant dropping out of a
          whole network of people who had been part of my life";
          "tangled in a web of cloth" [syn: {web}]
     2: (broadcasting) a communication system consisting of a group
        of broadcasting stations that all transmit the same
        programs; "the networks compete to broadcast important
        sports events"
     3: an open fabric of string or rope or wire woven together at
        regular intervals [syn: {net}, {mesh}, {meshing}, {meshwork}]
     4: a system of intersecting lines or channels; "a railroad
        network"; "a network of canals"
     5: (electronics) a system of interconnected electronic
        components or circuits [syn: {electronic network}]

Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

network
     
         Hardware and software data communication systems.
     
        The {OSI} seven layer model attempts to provide a way of
        partitioning any computer network into independent modules
        from the lowest (physical) layer to the highest (application)
        layer.  Many different specifications exist at each of these
        layers.
     
        Networks are often also classified according to their
        geographical extent: {local area network} (LAN), {metropolitan
        area network} (MAN), {wide area network} (WAN) and also
        according to the {protocol}s used.
     
        See {BITNET}, {Ethernet}, {Internet}, {Novell}, {PSTN},
        {network, the}.
     
        [Tanenbaum, A., "Computer Networks; 2nd ed.", Prentice Hall,
        Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1989.]
     
        (1995-03-10)