software

CEFRB1

/ˈsɒf(t)ˌwɛə/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    Programs and instructions used by a computer or electronic device.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    Recorded music content, as opposed to the hardware necessary for reproducing it.

Examples

  • Please advise us, if possible, of a company which has developed image processing software.

  • These programs will integrate with your existing software.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
2

Also pronounced

  • /ˈsɔf(t)ˌweː/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. The human beings involved in warfare, as opposed to hardware such as weapons and vehicles.

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

  3. Soft goods, such as textiles.

More examples

In context

  • You really shouldn't use pirated software.

  • Some software will only run on a particular platform.

  • 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.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

To edit her photos, she needs to install the newest blank on her computer.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

Middle English ware English -ware English software Computing sense from soft + -ware, by contrast with hardware (“the computer itself”). Coined by John Tukey in 1958. 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.