wireless local area network
- noun
- /ˈwaɪərləs ˈloʊkəl ˈɛriə ˈnɛtˌwɜrk/
- Specialized
:
red local inalámbrica
- Setting up a wireless local area network at home made it easier for my family to connect their laptops and tablets to the internet.
Examples
-
The office installed a wireless local area network to allow employees to work from anywhere in the building.
-
Using a wireless local area network, the system is capable of Internet access for technical information and will support a graphical display of computer-aided design data.
Academic text (2001) -
With a wireless local area network, we can easily share files and connect multiple devices without the need for cables.
Synonyms
31
1.3
A way to connect devices to the internet or a local network without wires
11
3.4
A group of computers and devices in one building that share files and printers
1
3.5
A network that connects computers and devices in one building like an office
1
3.7
A wireless network that connects devices in a building or campus
A system that lets devices connect to the internet without wires, often called Wi-Fi
Surface Forms
Morphology
wireless + local + area + network
The phrase is fully compositional: 'network' (interconnected devices) qualified by 'local area' (limited geographic scope) and 'wireless' (without wires) yields a network serving a small area that uses wireless transmission. Although technical, the components combine in a predictable, cross-linguistically common way, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words can infer the meaning.
Etymology
Wireless local area network comes from older systems called local area networks that used a wire to join computers in one place. If you remove the wire, the devices talk by invisible signals inside a small 'local' area, so the name now means a small network that works 'without wires'.