The vocabulary we use when writing about the Internet and technology is constantly evolving. Deciding whether to use web page or webpage is a perfect example, even if both are correct and acceptable.
When we use words that start with web, there is often a choice between a one-word or two-word variant. But which one is correct, or the best choice?
As with many things grammatical and lexical in English, there is no hard and fast rule.
You can only base your decisions on up-to-date dictionary entries, everyday usage, or style guide recommendations.
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Why we use web as a word and prefix
The word web comes from the invention of the World Wide Web (WWW) in 1989 by Tim Berners-Lee.
We still see it today in many internet addresses that include www. before a site name.
Although we still use the word Internet to describe anything online, it is now more commonly known simply as the Web.
Because of this, the word web started to be added to existing words to indicate an online object or activity.
In the early days of the Web, it was common to use the word internet. Who can forget the famous Internet Explorer browser from Microsoft in the mid to late nineties? It was the most popular browser of its day.
Another popular early browser was Netscape Navigator, which shortened the Internet to Net. Because of this, we still often refer to the Internet as the Net.
Once the word web and, to a lesser degree, net, became fixtures in everyday language, they have been added to many existing words to form new words relating to technology.
You can probably think of many, such as web servers, web analysts, web hosts, and web designers.
However, you might also think of webmail, webcam, and webinar.
You can see the problem here. When do you use one word or two?
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Web page or webpage? Web site or website?
These two word choices are probably the most debated in modern language and grammar use for technology terms.
You can find hundreds of forums and social media entries discussing the topic.
When you search for advice from well-known style guides, you will often find conflicting conclusions.
Some say one word, some say two.
The best decision for your writing is to choose the form you feel comfortable using.
You can also look at usage trends. Here are two examples of how word usage changes and evolves.
Let’s start with the trend graph of web page and webpage.
Clearly, web page was the first form from around 1993 and continued to be the most common variant up until around 2010.
But from 2010 onwards, webpage as one word has increased in use consistently, while web page is rapidly declining.
However, the change from two words to one is more dramatic for web site and website.
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