Etymology

scareware

S1C3A1R1E1W4A1R1E1

Today it means: Software that attempts to scare the user into compliance, as by displaying false warnings of virus infection. Full definition →

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

  1. Englishscare
  2. Proto-Indo-European*sem-
  3. Proto-Germanic*samþuz /*samftuz
  4. Proto-West Germanic*samft(ī)
  5. Old Englishsōfte
  6. Middle Englishsofte
  7. Englishsoft
  8. Proto-Germanic*warō
  9. Proto-West Germanic*waru
  10. Old Englishwaru
  11. Middle Englishware
  12. Englishsoftwarebf.
  13. English todayscareware

From scare + -ware.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.