software

Computing sense from soft +‎ -ware, by contrast with hardware (“the computer itself”). Coined by John Tukey in 1958.^[1][2] The earlier sense of software to mean tangible products with a soft texture may have fallen out of common usage before the computing sense was created.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈsɒf(t)ˌwɛə/
• (General American, without the cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ˈsɔf(t)ˌwɛɹ/
• (General American, cot–caught merger, dialects of Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈsɑf(t)ˌwɛɹ/

  • Audio (California):

    (file)

• (Canada, dialects of the US) IPA^(key): /ˈsɒf(t)ˌwɛɹ/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈsɔf(t)ˌweː/
• (Indic) IPA^(key): /ˈsɔfʈˌwa(r)/, (non-rhotic, also) /-wer/
• Rhymes: -ɒftwɛə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: soft‧ware
• Homophone: softwear

software (usually uncountable, plural software or (nonstandard) softwares)

1. (computing) Encoded computer instructions, usually modifiable (unless stored in some form of unalterable memory such as ROM).

   Hyponyms: see Thesaurus:software

   • 1958, John W. Tukey, "The Teaching of Concrete Mathematics" in The American Mathematical Monthly, vol. 65, no. 1 (Jan. 1958), pp 1-9:

     The "software" comprising the carefully planned interpretive routines, compilers, and other aspects of automative programming are at least as important to the modern electronic calculator as its "hardware" of tubes, transistors, wires, tapes and the like.

   • 1995, Paul Niquette, Softword: Provenance for the Word ‘Software’:

     As originally conceived, the word "software" was merely an obvious way to distinguish a program from the computer itself. A program comprised sequences of changeable instructions each having the power to command the behavior of the permanently crafted machinery, the "hardware."

   • 2022 October 17, Sean Lyngaas and Clare Duffy, “How a 51-year-old celebrity hacker upended one of the world’s most influential social networks”, in CNN Business‎^[3]:

     Cris “Space Rogue” Thomas, another ex-L0pht member who testified alongside Zatko that day, said that L0pht would do everything it could to get companies to collaboratively fix software issues the hacker group found.

2. (military) The human beings involved in warfare, as opposed to hardware such as weapons and vehicles.
   • 1989, Christopher Layton, A Step Beyond Fear: Building a European Security Community:

     The Americans have devoted their attention to the hardware of disarmament: Europeans can make a special contribution to the 'software' or human content of detente.

   • 1991, New York Magazine, volume 24, number 5, page 33:

     […] preview of horrific images to come, as the hardware stage of the war yields to the software — or human — stage.

3. (music industry, dated) Recorded music content, as opposed to the hardware necessary for reproducing it.
   • 1979 December 6, Toshi T. Doi, Takashi Itoh, Hiroshi Ogawa, “A Long-Play Digital Audio Disk System”, in Journal of the AES‎^[4], volume 27, number 12, pages 975–981:

     […] an extremely long playing time is achieved, which might be unnecessary from a software point of view

   • 1982 March, Len Feldman, “Digital Audio Disc”, in Radio-Electronics‎^[5], volume 53, number 3, New York: Gernsback Publications, →ISSN, archived from the original on 9 March 2021, page 41:

     There seems to be a growing trend towards endorsement of the C-DAD system by equipment manufacturers and "software" (recorded material) producers around the world.

   • 1982 December, David Ranada, “Digital Debut: First impressions of the Compact Disc System”, in Stereo Review‎^[6], volume 47, number 12, →ISSN, archived from the original on 9 March 2021, page 69:

     Software availability will probably be a significant problem for at least the first few months of the system's commercial life. At present there are only two CD pressing plants in operation, CBS/Sony's in Japan and PolyGram's in Germany.

   • 1984, CD202 Slimline CD Player (Philips advertising brochure)‎^[7], archived from the original on 31 December 2025:

     PLENTIFUL SOFTWARE
     Compact Disc already has support from the recording studios. Many familiar labels appear on these shining silver discs, so that a wide choice of music from the world's leading artistes is available.

   • 1986, Daniel Sweeney, Demystifying Compact Discs: A Guide to Digital Audio‎^[8], 1st edition, Blue Ridge Summit: TAB Books, →ISBN, page 161:

     It should be noted that there are industry observers who feel that the whole concept of individually owned music software could become obsolete, and that in the future no digital consumer medium will exist. Instead, the listener will pay for a cable service whereby he can call up musical selections from a vast central electronic memory—a sort of library of music.

   • 1996, Jürgen K. Lang, Das Compact Disc Digital Audio System‎^[9], →ISBN, page 37:

     Anders als bei Videorecordern […] war mit Blick auf die völlige Abhängigkeit von vorgefertigter Musik-Software die Einführung gleich mehrerer neuer Tonträgersysteme nicht zu erwarten.

     Unlike video recorders […] the introduction of several new recording systems was not to be expected in view of the complete dependence on prefabricated music software.

4. (archaic) Soft goods, such as textiles.
   • 1889, Parliamentary Debates, volume 61, Victoria. Parliament, page 1404:

     In fact, under the heads of hardware, software, and agriculture, the leading interests of the colony might be said to be grouped.

   • 1914, Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, volume 3, page 167:

     Drop into the first emporium you pass, whether of hardware or software, of dry goods or wet goods, and note how comparatively few of the articles displayed represent really original ideas

   • 1927, Ernest Bramah, Max Carrados Mysteries:

     We have wheat "kings" and cotton "kings" and coal "kings"; railroad "kings", stationary engine "kings", and Mr Ford; "kings" in the realms of hardware, software, sectional bookcases, crime, and canned tomatoes.

• Software is a mass noun (some software, a piece of software). By non-native speakers it is sometimes erroneously treated as a countable noun (a software, some softwares).

• → Amharic: ሶፍትዌር (softəwer)
• → Iranian Persian: نَرْم‌اَفْزار (narm-afzâr) (calque)
• → Malay: sofwe

• “software”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

• forwaste, softwear

Borrowed from English software.

• IPA^(key): [ˈsoftvɛr]
• IPA^(key): [ˈsoftvɛːr]

• Audio:

  (file)

software m inan

1. (computing) software

   Synonyms: programové vybavení, (rare) programové prostředky

• hardware

• “software”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2026

Borrowed from English software.

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɔft.ʋɛr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: soft‧ware

software m (uncountable, no diminutive)

1. software (encoded computer instructions)

   Synonym: programmatuur

• hardware

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

software m (plural softwares)

1. (archaic) software

   Synonym: logiciel

• “software”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Borrowed from English software.

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɔf.twɛr/, /ˈsɔf.twer/, /ˈsɔf.twɛ.ar/^[1]
• Rhymes: -ɔftwɛr, -ɔftwer, -ɔftwɛar

software m (invariable)

1. (computing) software (encoded computer instructions)

• hardware

Borrowed from English software.

software m (uncountable)

1. (Jersey, computing) software (encoded computer instructions)

Unadapted borrowing from English software.

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɔft.wɛr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔftwɛr
• Syllabification: soft‧ware

software m inan

1. (software) software (encoded computer instructions)

   Synonym: oprogramowanie

   Coordinate term: hardware

2. (technology) technical and organizational ideas

• “software”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[10] (in Polish)

Unadapted borrowing from English software.

• Rhymes: -ɔftʃiwɛʁ, -ɛɾ
• Hyphenation: soft‧ware

software m (countable and uncountable, plural softwares)

1. (uncountable, computing) software (encoded computer instructions)
2. (countable, computing) a piece of software; program

   Vou instalar um novo software de anti-vírus. ― I'll install a new anti-virus program.

• hardware
• middleware

• “software”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “software”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Unadapted borrowing from English software.

software n (plural (rare) software-uri)

1. (computing) software (encoded computer instructions)

   Synonym: soft

• hardware

Unadapted borrowing from English software.

• IPA^(key): /ˈsofdw̝eɾ/ [ˈsovð̞.w̝eɾ], /ˈsoftweɾ/ [ˈsof.t̪weɾ]
• Rhymes: -ofdw̝eɾ, -oftweɾ
• Syllabification: soft‧ware

software m (plural softwares)

1. (computing) software (encoded computer instructions)

   Synonym: programa

   • 2024 July 22, Zoe Sottile, “Lo que sabemos cuatro días después de que una actualización de software dejara fuera de servicio los sistemas informáticos de todo el mundo”, in CNN en Español‎^[11]:

     Cuatro días después de que una actualización de software defectuosa de una empresa de ciberseguridad dejara inesperadamente fuera de servicio ordenadores y sistemas técnicos en todo el mundo, las aerolíneas y algunas otras empresas siguen experimentando retrasos y otros problemas técnicos.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

• hardware

• “software”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025
• software | Diccionario panhispánico de dudas | RAE - ASALE
• algoritmo, software y hardware, cuatro claves de redacción | Fundéu Guzmán Ariza (fundeu.do)