Internet Protocol: a communications protocol for computers connected to a network, especially the Internet, specifying the format for addresses and units of transmitted data.
British Dictionary definitions for internet protocol
IP
abbreviation
1.
internet protocol: a code used to label packets of data sent across the internet, identifying both the sending and the receiving computers
2.
(law) intellectual property
internet protocol in Science
IP Short for Internet Protocol. A protocol that specifies the way data is broken into packets and the way those packets are addressed for transmission. See more at TCP/IP.
internet protocol in Technology
networking (IP) The network layer for the TCP/IPprotocol suite widely used on Ethernet networks, defined in STD 5, RFC 791. IP is a connectionless, best-effort packet switching protocol. It provides packetrouting, fragmentation and re-assembly through the data link layer. IPv4 is the version in widespread use and IPv6 was just beginning to come into use in 2000 but is still not widespread by 2008. [Other versions? Dates?] (2000-12-19)