# "Web Site" or "Website"?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-site-or-website/20489
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [May 25, 2000, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-site-or-website/20489 "2000-05-25T03:57:04Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@mellonhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mellonhead)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2000, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-site-or-website/20489/1 "2000-05-25T03:57:04Z")
Well, which is it? I’ve asked around and it seems split down the middle: half spell it as one word, the other half spell it with two. For the record - I spell it “Website”.
p.s.
Moderator: sorry, didn’t know if this belongs here or “Great Debates”…don’t know if it’s a known fact that the word “website” has a correct spelling…
-m
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### Author:  [@Kilgore\_Trout\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilgore_Trout_1)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2000, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-site-or-website/20489/2 "2000-05-25T04:01:40Z")
[www.dictionary.com](http://www.dictionary.com) had no listing for **website** , but they did have **web site**.
[http://www.dictionary.com/cgi-bin/dict.pl?term=web%20site](http://www.dictionary.com/cgi-bin/dict.pl?term=web%20site)
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### Author:  [@SpartanDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpartanDC)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2000, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-site-or-website/20489/3 "2000-05-25T06:25:15Z")
Okay, this is kinda my first post but not really (I had another name and forgot the password… it was tetzel1517 if any of you remember that, it’s been awhile.)
Anyway, Associated Press style is Web site, since Web is derived from “World Wide Web,” a proper name.
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### Author:  [@HorseloverFat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HorseloverFat)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2000, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-site-or-website/20489/4 "2000-05-25T08:58:47Z")
I like website, its alot like using ‘goto’ instead of ‘go to’ (err, theres a space there, wordwrap might screw it up)its easy to pick up with lots of casual computer use.
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### Author:  [@xekul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xekul)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2000, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-site-or-website/20489/5 "2000-05-25T11:42:10Z")
I like `web site,'' `go to,’’ and, for HorseLover, ``a lot’’ 🙂
`Web site'' is what I've always seen since I've used the Internet; `website’’ seems to be a more recent trend.
I’ve seen ``goto’’ a lot but it reminds me of bad programming practices…
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### Author:  [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2000, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-site-or-website/20489/6 "2000-05-25T12:25:43Z")
This is a bit OT, but I think **xecul** is correct to capitalized _Internet_. It still annoys me to see it uncapitalized, but not as much as it used to.
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### Author:  [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2000, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-site-or-website/20489/7 "2000-05-25T13:33:08Z")
The magazine I work for uses “Web site.” “Internet” also uses an initial cap, but “online” doesn’t.
It’s all very new, so we’re making up the rules as we go. One problem is when we use a site’s address within text: we’re going to start italicizing it in our next issue. And is it necessary to use the “www” before the name? We still do, though not “http.” I’ve told the editors it’s OK to put a comma or period after a site’s address as we would with any other words, that people know by now it’s not part of the address.
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### Author:  [@sulla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sulla)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2000, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-site-or-website/20489/8 "2000-05-25T13:48:52Z")
In our office we use the “www.” I think it’s useful since we’re seeing “www2” and “www3” more, as well as addresses with no “www” at all. This MB, for instance.
-sulla
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### Author:  [@Kilgore\_Trout\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilgore_Trout_1)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2000, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-site-or-website/20489/9 "2000-05-25T15:30:31Z")
> [@](#):
>
> and, for HorseLover, ``a lot’’
ha.
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### Author:  [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2000, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-site-or-website/20489/10 "2000-05-25T15:53:20Z")
We’ve been split on it too. However, the one client we have who’s actually thought about it prefers Web site, for the reasons given above, so we’ve decided to go that way unless another client objects.
But we’ve always capitalized Internet.
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### Author:  [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2000, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-site-or-website/20489/11 "2000-05-25T15:54:33Z")
‘web site’= a site on the web. ‘website’ =dunno what that would be. ‘Internet’= [International Computer Network [okay so, not everyone agrees on that].
What about ‘homepage’ or is it ‘home page’?
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### Author:  [@Kilgore\_Trout\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilgore_Trout_1)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2000, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-site-or-website/20489/12 "2000-05-25T15:56:57Z")
once again, handy, [www.dictionary.com](http://www.dictionary.com) came through. they say that **homepage** is not a word, and that **home page** is the correct term.
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### Author:  [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2000, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-site-or-website/20489/13 "2000-05-26T17:54:32Z")
It’s funny how dictionaries are giving us the ‘proper’ spelling of words that are coined in the past decade. Remember, dictionaries were loathe at first to allow _email_ as an appropriate designation of _electronic mail_.
These things are still up in the air. Which ever gets the most usage over the long run wins. Prescriptivist dictionaries are useless with neologisms that have currently competing spellings.
If _Internet_ and _World Wide Web_ are proper names, what are they the proper names of?
E.g., if I’m going to the World Trade Center, I’m going to the World Trade Center building. ‘World Trade Center’ is the proper name of a building. What are the 'Net and Web proper names of?
Peace.
* * *
_“Prescriptivist dictionaries are useless with neologisms that have currently competing spellings.”_ - moriah
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### Author:  [@Geenius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geenius)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2000, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-site-or-website/20489/14 "2000-05-26T18:41:00Z")
A network and a network protocol.
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2000, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-site-or-website/20489/15 "2000-05-26T19:34:44Z")
There is a definite trend to write compound words solid (see the GPO Style Manual, which has the best guide to compounding around). The eventual answer is most likely to be “website,” though it’s still a matter of personal style. Just be consistent.
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### Author:  [@xekul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xekul)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2000, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-site-or-website/20489/16 "2000-05-26T20:18:23Z")
For the http/www thing, I think we should retain at least one of them. Or, say the English words ``web site,’’ because otherwise it leaves the service ambiguous. Although most people only use the [http://www](http://www).(except for one-time setups like POP3 or SMTP), it prevents confusion if you wanted to specify a FTP or telnet service.
And, I’m going with ``home page’’ because I pronounce it as two separate words.
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### Author:  [@Wumpus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wumpus)
#### Post date: [May 28, 2000, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-site-or-website/20489/17 "2000-05-28T14:12:18Z")
Both Web and Internet are proper nouns, and are therefore capitalized. It’s a straightforward application of the usual rules…
Any house painted white is a white house, but _the_ White House is where the President of the US lives.
Any building where international trade takes place could be called a world trade center, but _the_ World Trade Center is in NYC.
Any network of networks could be termed an internet, but _the_ Internet is the worldwide system that dwarfs all the other puny little internets out there.
Any world-wide network could be described as a world-wide web, but _the_ World Wide Web is the very particular set of Internet protocols that you’re using right now.
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### Author:  [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)
#### Post date: [May 28, 2000, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-site-or-website/20489/18 "2000-05-28T15:11:04Z")
Websters has:
homeport "hom-'port, -'port\ (1957)
verb transitive
: to provide with or assign to a home port
©1996 Zane Publishing, Inc. and Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. All rights reserved.
home port noun (ca. 1891)
: the port from which a ship hails or from which it is documented
©1996 Zane Publishing, Inc. and Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. All rights reserved.
So it would seem that ‘home page’ would be similar?
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### Author:  [@Kilgore\_Trout\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilgore_Trout_1)
#### Post date: [May 28, 2000, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-site-or-website/20489/19 "2000-05-28T20:40:07Z")
> [@](#):
>
> **So it would seem that ‘home page’ would be similar?**
why would that be?
[sarcasm]oh i get it. because one word is structured a certain way, another word has to be. that makes sense, this is english we’re talking about.[/sarcasm]
anyway. if you took the time to go to the webster’s online dictionary as i suggested earlier, you would see that they have **home page** , and not **homepage**.
> **[Dictionary by Merriam-Webster: America's most-trusted online dictionary](https://www.merriam-webster.com/)**
>
> The dictionary by Merriam-Webster is America's most trusted online dictionary for English word definitions, meanings, and pronunciation. #wordsmatter
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### Author:  [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)
#### Post date: [May 28, 2000, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-site-or-website/20489/20 "2000-05-28T23:52:21Z")
Kilgore, I have that dictionary on the computer too…!
The latest one too, although even the latest one is old!
[Onelook.com](http://Onelook.com) which is far more uptodate than the dictionary you are using gives from a computer dictionary:
CCI Computer -includes definition (English) (indexed May 27 2000)
Thanks to Mike McDonnell
1.homepage
"Definition for: homepage
The first page on a World Wide Web site, to which
supporting pages are linked."
Thus, it is a word & Im happy some dictionaries are uptodate!
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