software etymology

Etymology:

The word "software" is a compound word derived from two Latin roots:

  • "Soft" (Latin: "mollis") meaning "pliable, malleable, intangible"
  • "Ware" (Latin: "warus") meaning "goods, merchandise"

Meaning:

Software refers to a set of instructions and data that tells a computer how to perform a specific task or tasks. It is intangible and can be modified or updated easily, unlike hardware (the physical components of a computer).

Origin:

The term "software" was first coined in 1953 by John Tukey, a statistician and mathematician. Tukey used the term to distinguish between the intangible instructions that ran computers and the physical components of the machines themselves.

Previously, the term "coding" or "programming" was used to describe the instructions that controlled computers. However, as computers became more complex and the instructions became more sophisticated, the need for a more specific term arose.

Over time, the term "software" became widely accepted and is now used to refer to any set of computer instructions that are not part of the hardware.

software relate terms

  • hardware

    Etymology Latin hardus hard ware goods Meaning Hardware refers to the ph

  • hard

    Etymology Hard is an adjective derived from the Old English word heard meaning stro

  • ware

    Etymology The word ware has roots in several Germanic languages Old English waru m

  • soft

    Etymology of soft Old English softe from West Germanic saftiz meaning soft sa

  • seem

    Etymology Middle English from Old English sēon of Germanic origin related to German

  • same

    Etymology is the study of the history of words their origins and how their form and mean

  • hard

    Etymology Hard is an adjective derived from the Old English word heard meaning stro

  • ware

    Etymology The word ware has roots in several Germanic languages Old English waru m

  • virtual

    Virtual Etymology Meaning The tendency of words to take on a meaning that aligns with t

  • routine

    Etymology The word routine comes from the French word routinier which in turn deriv

  • documentation

    Etymology Documentation comes from the Latin word documentum which means proof e

  • code

    Etymology The word code comes from the Latin codex meaning tree trunk In ancient

  • function

    Etymology is the study of the history of words including their origins forms and meanin

  • program

    Program Etymology Etymology Latin programma Greek programma Meaning Plan s

  • computer

    Etymology The word computer has its roots in the Latin word computare which means t