Online Etymology Dictionary

network (n.): "net-like arrangement of threads, wires, etc.," 1560, from net (n.) + work (n.). Extended sense of "any complex, interlocking system" is from 1839 (orig. in ref. to transport by rivers, canals, and railways). Meaning "broadcasting system of multiple transmitters" is from 1914; sense of "interconnected group of people" is from 1947. The verb, in ref. to computers, is from 1972; in ref. to persons, it is attested from 1980s.
ARPANET: acronym from Advanced Research Projects Agency Network, set up in 1969 by a branch of the U.S. Department of Defense in partnership with four universities; acknowledged as "the world's first operational packet switching network" and predecessor of the Internet.
plexus: 1682, Mod.L., lit. "braid, network," from pp. of L. plectere "to twine, braid, fold," used of a network, such as solar plexus "network of nerves in the abdomen" (see solar).
Teletex: proprietary name for a computer data-sharing network, 1978.
Underground Railroad: "network of U.S. anti-slavery activists helping runaways elude capture," attested from 1852 but said to date from 1831, coined in jest by bewildered trackers after their slaves vanished without a trace.
grid: 1839, shortening of gridiron. City planning sense is from 1954 (hence gridlock 1980). Meaning "network of transmission lines" first recorded 1926.
Internet: 1985, "the linked computer networks of the U.S. Defense Department," shortened from internetwork, from inter- + network.
retina: 1392, from M.L. retina, probably from V.L. (tunica) *retina, lit. "net-like tunic," on resemblance to the network of blood vessels at the back of the eye, and ult. from L. rete "net." The V.L. phrase may be Gerard of Cremona's 12c. translation of Ar. (tabaqa) sabakiva "netlike layer," itself a translation of Gk. amphiblestroeides (khiton).
texture: early 15c., "network, structure," from M.Fr., from L. textura "web, texture, structure," from stem of texere "to weave," from PIE base *tek- "to make" (cf. Skt. taksati "he fashions, constructs," taksan "carpenter;" Avestan taša "ax, hatchet," thwaxš- "be busy;" O.Pers. taxš- "be active;" Gk. tekton "carpenter," tekhne "art;" O.C.S. tesla "ax, hatchet;" Lith. tasau "to carve;" O.Ir. tal "cooper's ax;" O.H.G. dahs, Ger. Dachs "badger," lit. "builder;" Hittite taksh- "to join, unite, build"). Meaning "structural character" is recorded from 1650s.
allay: O.E. alecgan "to put down, remit, give up," a Gmc. compound (cf. Goth. uslagjan, O.H.G. irleccan, Ger. erlegen), from a- "down, aside" + lecgan "to lay" (see lay). Pronunciations of early M.E. -y- and -g- were not always distinct, and the word was confused in M.E. with various senses of Romanic-derived alloy and allege, especially the latter in an obs. sense of "to lighten," from L. ad- "to" + levis (see lever).
"Amid the overlapping of meanings that thus arose, there was developed a perplexing network of uses of allay and allege, that belong entirely to no one of the original vbs., but combine the senses of two or more of them." [OED]
The double -l- is 17c., a mistaken Latinism.
nuts (adj.): "crazy," 1846, from earlier be nutts upon "be very fond of" (1785), which is possibly from nuts (n., pl.) "any source of pleasure" (1617), from nut (q.v.). Sense influenced probably by metaphoric application of nut to "head" (1846, e.g. to be off one's nut "be insane," 1860). Nut "crazy person, crank" is attested from 1903, (British form nutter first attested 1958). Connection with the slang "testicle" sense has tended to nudge it toward taboo. "On the N.B.C. network, it is forbidden to call any character a nut; you have to call him a screwball." ["New Yorker," Dec. 23, 1950] "Please eliminate the expression 'nuts to you' from Egbert's speech." [Request from the Hays Office regarding the script of "The Bank Dick," 1940] This desire for avoidance accounts for the euphemism nerts (c.1925). Nutty "crazy" is first attested 1898.
flame (n.): mid-14c., from Anglo-Fr. flaume, O.Fr. flamme, from L. flammula "small flame," dim. of flamma "flame," from PIE *bhleg- "to shine, flash," from base *bhel- (1) "to shine, flash, burn" (see bleach). The meaning "a sweetheart" is attested from 1640s; the figurative sense of "burning passion" was in M.E. The verb is M.E. flamen, from O.Fr. flamer; the verb sense of "unleash invective on a computer network" is from 1980s. Flamer, flaming "glaringly homosexual" are homosexual slang from 1970s, but flamer "glaringly conspicuous person or thing" (1809) and flaming "glaringly conspicuous" (1781) are much earlier in the general sense, both originally with reference to "wenches." Flaming as an intensifying adj. dates from late 19c. Flame-thrower (1917) translates Ger. flammenwerfer (1915).