Where does “netmask” come from?

netmask (English) comes from English Net, from Middle English net, from Anglo-Norman neit, from Old French net, from Vulgar Latin nittus, from Latin nitidus, from Latin nitere, from Latin niteo.

netmask (English): The routing prefix of a network address

Definitions

  1. The routing prefix of a network address

Ancestry of “netmask”, step by step

netmask traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English Net

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishNetthe Internet
2Middle Englishnetworthy, good, pure, fine, elegant
3Anglo-Normanneitgood, desireable, clean
4Old Frenchnetneat, decent
5Vulgar Latinnittus
6Latinnitidusshining, polished, glittering; handsome,...
7Latinniteresecond-person singular future active indicative...
8LatinniteoI am radiant, shine, look bright, glitter,...
9Proto-Indo-Europeanney-to shine; to be aroused, shine; to be excited
10Cebuano-hi

via English mask

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishmaskA cover, or partial cover, for the face, used for...
2Middle Frenchmasquemask
3Italianmascheramask; surface, fiction; cinema attendant
4Latinmascawitch, hag; spectre; nightmare; mask
5Proto-West Germanic*maskāmesh, net
6Proto-Germanicmaskwǭloop, knot; mesh, netting; mesh used as a filter,...
7Proto-Indo-Europeanmozgo-netting, mesh, knot, loop
8Proto-Indo-Europeanmezgʷ-to knit, tie, make a loop; to knit, tie; to knit,...
Every word from Cebuano -hi