internetwork

A system of interconnected networks; a network of networks. Usually shortened to "internet". (See: internet, Internet.)

Tutorial: An internet can be built using OSIRM Layer 3 gateways to implement connections between a set of similar subnetworks. With dissimilar subnetworks, i.e., subnetworks that differ in the Layer 3 protocol service they offer, an internet can be built by implementing a uniform internetwork protocol (e.g., IP) that operates at the top of Layer 3 and hides the underlying subnetworks' heterogeneity from hosts that use communication services provided by the internet. (See: router.)