“…a range of service and deployment models that rely on elements such as standardization, automation, and optimization to deliver IT services efficiently and consistently, via a network.”
A misnomer – there is no sole “the Cloud.” Any enterprise can have “a Cloud”.
In telephony, the nebulous world where unidentified things allowed telephony devices to communicate; the “place” where a telephone call went between caller and receiver. (Possible source of the term’s origin?)