Word of the Day

Extranet

Pronunciation 

[EKS-trÉ™-net]                                                                                                                      

Part of speech

Noun                                                                                                                                             

Origin

English, 1990s                                                                                                                                            

Definition(s)

An intranet that can be partially accessed by authorized outside users, enabling businesses to exchange information over the Internet securely.

Used in a sentence           

  1. You'll need to send an email to IT to ask for access to the extranet.
  2. The staff is able to work remotely as long as they have their computer and access to the company extranet.                                                                                                    

About the Word

Here's one of those tech terms that would have sounded like a foreign language 100, even 50, years ago. Combine net, an abbreviation for internet, with extra, meaning outside or beyond, and you have extranet. It's a private network with access given to specific outside users.                   

Did you know?

You need internet to be able to access the extranet. But if you're logged onto the intranet, then you don't need the extranet. Make sense? Internet is what you need to get online. But your work might have a private intranet with shared files and programs. The extranet is similar, but outside users can also get permission to use and share the information.                                           

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Courtesy of Wordgenius.com and AHDictionary.com