Net

A woven net first; networks extend that sense.

Mandarin reads it wǎng, roughly “wahng” with a tone that dips and rises; Japanese reads 網 as あみ. Pinyin is the system that writes Mandarin sounds with Latin letters. The bare glyph cannot reveal which language a sentence uses.

Historical Chinese dictionaries connect 網 with earlier net graphs 罔 and 网, a documented relationship rather than a guess from appearance. A Japanese reference work points to an early literary use of あみ in the Nihon Shoki, an early Japanese chronicle; this is evidence for the word, not a date for the exact written graph. The meaning extends from catching and gathering to organized networks.

Does 網 mean the internet by itself?

Compounds, not the bare glyph, point to online use.

On its own, 網 means a net, not automatically the internet. 上網 means going online, and 網頁 means a web page. 網路 and 網絡 mean a network; in Taiwan, 網路 can also mean the internet. 網開三面 uses the net figuratively: leaving three sides open means showing leniency.

Which form should I use?

Use 網 in traditional Chinese and 网 in simplified Chinese.

Japanese also uses 網 as a kanji, so the isolated graph does not identify the text as Chinese. The two Chinese forms share the same basic character and meaning; the distinction is a writing convention.