Etymology

firmware

F4I1R1M3W4A1R1E1

Today it means: A permanent form of software that provides a low-level control of computing device hardware. Full definition →

English softwarebf. ← Middle English ware ← Old English waru
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The story

  1. Medieval Latinfirma
  2. Medieval Latinferma
  3. Old Frenchferme
  4. Middle Englishferme
  5. Englishfirm
  6. Proto-Indo-European*sem-
  7. Proto-Germanic*samþuz /*samftuz
  8. Proto-West Germanic*samft(ī)
  9. Old Englishsōfte
  10. Middle Englishsofte
  11. Englishsoft
  12. Proto-Germanic*warō
  13. Proto-West Germanic*waru
  14. Old Englishwaru
  15. Middle Englishware
  16. Englishsoftwarebf.
  17. English todayfirmware

From firm + -ware. Coined in an article in 1967 as an intermediary term between hardware and software.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.