Internet-related prefixes
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Internet-related
prefixes A prefix is an affix which is placed before the stem of a word. Adding it to the beginning of one word changes it into another word. For example, when the prefix ''un-'' is added to the word ''happy'', it creates the word ''unhappy''. Particu ...
such as '' e-'', '' i-'', ''
cyber- Internet-related prefixes such as '' e-'', '' i-'', '' cyber-'', '' info-'', '' techno-'' and ''net-'' are added to a wide range of existing words to describe new, Internet- or computer-related flavors of existing concepts, often electronic product ...
'', ''
info- Internet-related prefixes such as '' e-'', '' i-'', '' cyber-'', '' info-'', '' techno-'' and ''net-'' are added to a wide range of existing words to describe new, Internet- or computer-related flavors of existing concepts, often electronic product ...
'', ''
techno- Internet-related prefixes such as '' e-'', '' i-'', '' cyber-'', '' info-'', '' techno-'' and ''net-'' are added to a wide range of existing words to describe new, Internet- or computer-related flavors of existing concepts, often electronic product ...
'' and ''
net- Internet-related prefixes such as '' e-'', '' i-'', '' cyber-'', '' info-'', '' techno-'' and '' net-'' are added to a wide range of existing words to describe new, Internet- or computer-related flavors of existing concepts, often electronic produc ...
'' are added to a wide range of existing words to describe new,
Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
- or computer-related flavors of existing concepts, often electronic products and services that already have a non-electronic counterpart. The adjective '' virtual'' is often used in a similar manner.


Cyber-, e-, i, and virtual


"Cyber-"

''Cyber-'' is derived from "
cybernetic Cybernetics is a wide-ranging field concerned with circular causality, such as feedback, in regulatory and purposive systems. Cybernetics is named after an example of circular causal feedback, that of steering a ship, where the helmsperson ma ...
", from the Greek κυβερνητικός 'skilled in steering or governing'. Examples: '' cyberspace'', ''
cyberlaw Information technology law (also called cyberlaw) concerns the law of information technology, including computing and the internet. It is related to legal informatics, and governs the digital dissemination of both (digitized) information and sof ...
'', ''
cyberbullying Cyberbullying or cyberharassment is a form of bullying or harassment using electronic means. Cyberbullying and cyberharassment are also known as online bullying. It has become increasingly common, especially among teenagers, as the digital ...
'', ''
cybercrime A cybercrime is a crime that involves a computer or a computer network.Moore, R. (2005) "Cyber crime: Investigating High-Technology Computer Crime," Cleveland, Mississippi: Anderson Publishing. The computer may have been used in committing th ...
'', '' cyberwarfare'', ''
cyberterrorism Cyberterrorism is the use of the Internet to conduct violent acts that result in, or threaten, the loss of life or significant bodily harm, in order to achieve political or ideological gains through threat or intimidation. Acts of deliberate, la ...
'', ''
cybersex Cybersex, also called computer sex, Internet sex, netsex and, colloquially, cyber or cybering, is a virtual sex encounter in which two or more people have long distance sex via electronic video communication (webcams, VR headsets, etc) and other e ...
'', and ''
cyberdelic Cyberdelic (from " cyber-" and "psychedelic") was the fusion of cyberculture and the psychedelic subculture that formed a new counterculture in the 1980s and 1990s. Cyberdelic art was created by calculating fractal objects and representing the ...
''. It is commonly used for policies and politics regarding computer systems and networks (as in the above cases), but also for information technology products and services.


"E-"

''E-'', standing for ''electronic'', is used in the terms ''
e-mail Electronic mail (email or e-mail) is a method of exchanging messages ("mail") between people using electronic devices. Email was thus conceived as the electronic (digital) version of, or counterpart to, mail, at a time when "mail" meant ...
'', ''
e-commerce E-commerce (electronic commerce) is the activity of electronically buying or selling of products on online services or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain managem ...
'', ''
e-business Electronic business (or "Online Business" or "e-business") is any kind of business or commercial transaction that includes sharing information across the internet. Commerce constitutes the exchange of products and services between businesses, grou ...
'', ''
e-banking Online banking, also known as internet banking, web banking or home banking, is an electronic payment system that enables customers of a bank or other financial institution to conduct a range of financial transactions through the financial insti ...
'', ''
e-sports Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams. Although orga ...
'', '' e-paper'', ''
e-cigarette An electronic cigarette is an electronic device that simulates tobacco smoking. It consists of an atomizer, a power source such as a battery, and a container such as a cartridge or tank. Instead of smoke, the user inhales vapor. As such ...
'', '' e-car'', ''
e-girl E-girls and e-boys, sometimes collectively known as e-kids, are a youth subculture of Gen Z that emerged in the late 2010s, notably popularized by the video-sharing app TikTok. It is an evolution of emo, scene and mall goth fashion combined ...
'', '' e-reservation'', and ''
e-book An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...
''. The lowercase initial ''e'' prefix was used as early as 1994 by '' eWorld'',
Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...
's online service.


"i-"

The ''i-'' prefix was used in 1964 in "In Watermelon Sugar", Richard Brautigan's American postmodern post-apocalyptic novel published in 1968. Set in the aftermath of a fallen civilization, it focuses on a commune organized around a central gathering house which is named "iDEATH" The ''i-'' prefix was used as early as 1994 by ''
iVillage iVillage, Inc. was a mass media company that operated the ”most popular female-oriented sites” on the internet in the 1990s. In addition to ivillage.com, the company operated iVillage UK, Astrology.com, GardenWeb, and the NBC Digital Health ...
'', an internet community site by and for women. More recent examples include the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
's iPlayer, and
Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...
's former
iGoogle iGoogle (formerly Google Personalized Homepage) was a customizable Ajax-based start page or personal web portal launched by Google in May 2005. It was discontinued on November 1, 2013,Google SupportiGoogle's Decommission/ref> because the compan ...
service. It has even been used by companies not in the IT sector for their websites, such as
Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlant ...
's now-defunct icoke.com.
Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company ...
is especially connected to the ''i-'' prefix. They first employed it for the
iMac iMac is a family of all-in-one Mac desktop computers designed and built by Apple Inc. It has been the primary part of Apple's consumer desktop offerings since its debut in August 1998, and has evolved through seven distinct forms. In it ...
line of computers starting in 1998, and have since used it in many of their other product names, including ''iCal, iSync, iChat, iBook, iDVD, iLife,'' ''
iMessage iMessage is an instant messaging service developed by Apple Inc. and launched in 2011. iMessage functions exclusively on Apple platforms: macOS, iOS, iPadOS, and watchOS. Core features of iMessage, available on all supported platforms, in ...
,'' '' iPod (and iPod Socks), iSight,'' '' iPhone'', ''iWeb,'' '' iTunes'', ''
iCloud iCloud is a cloud service from Apple Inc. launched on October 12, 2011 as a successor to MobileMe. , the service had an estimated 850 million users, up from 782 million users in 2016. iCloud enables users to sync their data to the cloud, inclu ...
'', and others. They have said it stands for "Internet". Promotional materials for the 2004 film '' I, Robot'', inspired by Isaac Asimov's short-story collection of the same name, utilized a lowercase ''i'' as a cultural reference to the rising popularity at that time of the prefix in product names. The letter "i" was also used in the popular
Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...
show '' iCarly'', as that show primarily uses the internet as its main theme and to parodize the fact that
Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...
uses "i-" in almost all its products.


"Virtual"

The word ''virtual'' is used in a similar way to the prefixes above, but it is an adjective instead of a prefix. For example, it is used in the terms ''
virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), e ...
'', ''
virtual world A virtual world (also called a virtual space) is a computer-simulated environment which may be populated by many users who can create a personal avatar, and simultaneously and independently explore the virtual world, participate in its activities ...
'', and '' virtual sex''.


Linguistic behaviour

These prefixes are
productive Productivity is the efficiency of production of goods or services expressed by some measure. Measurements of productivity are often expressed as a ratio of an aggregate output to a single input or an aggregate input used in a production proces ...
. Michael Quinion notes that most of these formations are
nonce word A nonce word (also called an occasionalism) is a lexeme created for a single occasion to solve an immediate problem of communication.''The Cambridge Encyclopedia of The English Language''. Ed. David Crystal. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ...
s that will never be seen again. He writes that new terms such as "
e-health eHealth (also written e-health) is a relatively recent healthcare practice supported by electronic processes and communication, dating back to at least 1999. Usage of the term varies as it covers not just "Internet medicine" as it was conceived ...
" are unneeded; in this case '' telemedicine'' already exists to describe the application of
telecommunications Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...
to
medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...
. He similarly points out the redundancy of ''e-tail'', ''e-commerce'', and ''e-business''. Martin likewise characterizes many of these words as "fad words" and believes many will disappear once the technology that resulted in their coinage becomes better accepted and understood. For example, he writes, "when using computers becomes the standard way to do business, there will be no need to call it 'e-business' — it may be just 'business.'"


Spelling controversies

There is some confusion over whether these prefixes should be
hyphen The hyphen is a punctuation mark used to join words and to separate syllables of a single word. The use of hyphens is called hyphenation. ''Son-in-law'' is an example of a hyphenated word. The hyphen is sometimes confused with dashes ( figure ...
ated and/or in
upper case Letter case is the distinction between the letters that are in larger uppercase or capitals (or more formally ''majuscule'') and smaller lowercase (or more formally ''minuscule'') in the written representation of certain languages. The writing ...
. In the case of ''e-mail'', it was originally hyphenated and lowercase in general usage, but the hyphen is no longer common. In 1999, Michael Quinion attributed the forms "email", "E-mail" and "Email" to uncertainty on the parts of newer Internet users. In 2003, Ronald Smith prescribed that the ''e-'' should always be lowercase and hyphenated. In 2013, the Associated Press Stylebook removed the hyphen from "e-mail", following the general usage of the word.


History

The term 'cybernetics' was used in Norbert Wiener's book ''Cybernetics or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine'' (MIT Press, 1948). Wiener used the term in reference to the control of complex systems in the animal world and in mechanical networks, in particular self-regulating control systems. By 1960, doctors were performing research into surgically or mechanically augmenting humans or animals to operate machinery in space, leading to the coining of the term "
cyborg A cyborg ()—a portmanteau of ''cybernetic'' and ''organism''—is a being with both organic and biomechatronic body parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline.
", for "cybernetic organism". In 1965, the ABPC '' The Avengers'' television series introduced artificial humanoids called Cybernauts. In 1966, the BBC '' Doctor Who'' serial ''
The Tenth Planet ''The Tenth Planet'' is the partly missing second serial of the fourth season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 8 to 29 October 1966. It was William Hartnell ...
'' introduced a monster called
cybermen The Cybermen are a fictional race of cyborgs principally portrayed in the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. The Cybermen are a species of space-faring cyborgs who often forcefully and painfully convert human beings ( ...
. Fred J Cook (Winner of the 1961 Hillman Award) in his 1966 book "The Corrupted Land : The Social Morality of Modern America" introduces his book with "such ideals as free enterprise, 'rugged individualism' and ''laissez faire'' are anachronisms in this age of CYBERNATION." By the 1970s, the Control Data Corporation (CDC) sold the "Cyber" range of supercomputers, establishing the word ''cyber-'' as synonymous with computing. Robert Trappl credits
William Gibson William Ford Gibson (born March 17, 1948) is an American-Canadian speculative fiction writer and essayist widely credited with pioneering the science fiction subgenre known as ''cyberpunk''. Beginning his writing career in the late 1970s, hi ...
and his novel ''
Neuromancer ''Neuromancer'' is a 1984 science fiction novel by American-Canadian writer William Gibson. Considered one of the earliest and best-known works in the cyberpunk genre, it is the only novel to win the Nebula Award, the Philip K. Dick Award, and ...
'' with triggering a "cyber- prefix flood" in the 1980s. McFedries observes that a backlash against the use of ''e-'' and ''cyber-'' can be traced to the late 1990s, quoting Hale and Scanlon requesting writers in 1999 to "resist the urge to use this vowel-as-cliché" when it comes to ''e-'' and calling ''cyber-'' "terminally overused". A comparable usage from outside the English language is the Japanese prefix , meaning electricity, which was used in Meiji-era Japan to denote products exhibiting a Western sensibility.


References


Further reading

* — Schaffer discusses ''e-'', ''i-'' and several others. *


External links

{{Wiktionary, e-, i-, cyber-, virtual
Internet-related prefixes
– TheFreeDictionary.com
Internet-related prefixes
– CyberOaks.co Prefixes