software

Noun

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

1. (usually) Encoded computer instructions, usually modifiable (unless stored in some form of unalterable memory such as ROM).
   • 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.1958, John W. Tukey, "The Teaching of Concrete Mathematics" in The American Mathematical Monthly, vol. 65, no. 1 (Jan. 1958), pp 1-9
2. (usually) The human beings involved in warfare, as opposed to hardware such as weapons and vehicles.
   • 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.1989, Christopher Layton, A Step Beyond Fear: Building a European Security Community
   • […] preview of horrific images to come, as the hardware stage of the war yields to the software — or human — stage.1991, New York Magazine, volume 24, number 5, page 33
3. (dated, usually, music industry) Recorded music content, as opposed to the hardware necessary for reproducing it.
   • […] an extremely long playing time is achieved, which might be unnecessary from a software point of view1979 December 6, Toshi T. Doi, Takashi Itoh, Hiroshi Ogawa, “A Long-Play Digital Audio Disk System”, in Journal of the AES, volume 27, number 12, pages 975–981
   • 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 March, Len Feldman, “Digital Audio Disc”, in Radio-Electronics, volume 53, number 3, New York: Gernsback Publications, →ISSN, archived from the original on 09 Mar 2021, page 41
4. (archaic, usually) Soft goods, such as textiles.
   • In fact, under the heads of hardware, software, and agriculture, the leading interests of the colony might be said to be grouped.1889, Parliamentary Debates, volume 61, Victoria. Parliament, page 1404
   • 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 ideas1914, Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, volume 3, page 167