What does networking mean?
Networking refers to the practice of creating and using connections between people, organizations, or digital systems. In professional and social contexts, it means exchanging contact details, building relationships, sharing information, and discovering opportunities; a networking event is commonly an informal or business gathering designed for this purpose. In computing, networking has a more technical meaning: connecting computers and other devices so they can exchange data and access shared resources. The word can also be used as a verb, as in “networking at a conference” or “networking two systems together.” Although the modern sense is strongly associated with professional relationship-building, the underlying idea of a web of connections is older and applies equally to roads, organizations, biological tissues, and communication technologies. Networking is useful because it captures both the structure of interconnected systems and the human activity of maintaining those connections.
The activity of building professional or social relationships, or the process of connecting devices or systems for communication.
"The organization hosts a monthly networking event for local entrepreneurs."
The social and professional senses are usually uncountable. The computing sense is technical terminology.
To build or use connections among people, organizations, or devices, especially for communication or information exchange.
"The participants networked throughout the afternoon to exchange ideas."
The social sense is often somewhat informal, while the computing sense is technical.
Rare; networking is normally used as an uncountable noun.
"The seminar covered several types of professional networkings."
The word “networking” turns the familiar image of a net into a metaphor for the invisible connections that make communication, commerce, and community possible.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does networking come from?
The noun networking developed from network, a word formed in the 19th century from net and work. Net comes from Old English and refers to an open fabric or mesh made of intersecting threads, while work contributed the idea of an organized structure or arrangement. The verb form follows the ordinary English pattern of forming a gerund from a noun. The word’s computing sense developed alongside modern communication systems, while its social and professional senses became especially common in the 20th century.
Related word forms
How networking is actually used
In its professional and social senses, networking is usually an uncountable noun and often carries a mildly formal or businesslike tone. In computing, it is standard technical terminology.