The Rice University Neologisms Database

A netbook is a small, light-weight laptop computer priced well-below a normal laptop. It is a unique category of laptops that developed with the introduction of Asus EEE PC introduced in late 2007. At first there were many different terms to describe this category of PCs, such as subnotebook, mini notebook. It is unclear how the term netbook came into being, but major online technology sites such as Engadget and Cnet began to use the term in 2008. It is possible the they call them netbooks because these devices are meant for casual internet browsing on the go. Eventually, the term became so prevalent that retailers start to call these devices netbooks as well.