Web Site: 1 Word or 2?

// January 10th, 2010 // blog

Over the next week or two, I’m going to talk a little about web jargon.  The first thing I wanted to dispel is any myths you may have regarding the spelling of the most common web terms: website vs. web site, homepage vs. home page, and webpage vs. web page.

So, let’s put this to rest.  Is the word website  supposed to be 1 word or 2?  According to Google, a search on “define: website” produces the following definition (note the third on the list):

However, the revised 11th edition of the Concise Oxford Dictionary, published in July 2004, shows website as the standard form, and claims that future dictionaries will reflect this.  Additionally, according to the Concise Oxford Dictionary,

We recommend capital initials for Internet, World Wide Web, the Web, but not for individual sites.

Website, web site, internet site… call it what you will.  Similarly, webpage and web page, and homepage and home page, are certainly frequently used and understood.  You’ll find throughout my site I prefer the one-word versions of these terms.

Okay, so should it be capitalized?

According to http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu,

There is considerable debate, still, about how to capitalize words associated with the Internet. Most dictionaries are capitalizing Internet, Web, and associated words such as World Wide Web (usually shortened to Web), Web page, Web site, etc., but the publications of some corporations, such as Microsoft, seem to be leaning away from such capitalization. The Yale Style Manual recommends capitalization. The words e-mail and online are not capitalized. The Guide to Grammar and Writing is a monument to inconsistency on this issue.

So, Web site or Web page is probably more correct than Website or Webpage.  Maybe I’ll make the switch to capitalization!

Next article, blog definitions!

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