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The combining form –ware is used like a suffix meaning “software,” a program used to direct a computer. It is occasionally used in technical terms, especially in computer science.

The form –ware comes from the word software. The word software itself was coined around 1955 to contrast with hardware, a much older term used to refer to mechanical equipment. Learn more at our entry for hardware.

One example of a term from computer science that features the suffix –ware is spyware, “software that is installed surreptitiously and gathers information about an internet user’s browsing habits, intercepts the user’s personal data, etc., transmitting this information to a third party.”

The spy– part of the word here literally refers to “the act of observing secretly.” As we have seen, –ware means “software.” Spyware literally means “software for observing secretly.”

What are some words that use the combining form –ware?

• courseware
• firmware
• freeware
• groupware
• trialware

What are some other forms that –ware may be commonly confused with?

• -ward
• -wards

Outside of computer science, many words that end with the exact letters –ware, such as kitchenware or glassware, are not necessarily using the combining form –ware to denote “software.” Learn why glassware means “articles made of glass” at our entry for the word.

Given the meaning of the combining form –ware, what does freeware literally mean?