Etymology

shovelware

sho·vel·ware
S1H4O1V4E1L1W4A1R1E1

Today it means: A haphazard collection of software assembled in terms of quantity rather than quality. Full definition →

First used 20th c.English softwarebf. ← Middle English ware ← Old English waru
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The story

  1. Proto-Germanic*skublō
  2. Proto-Germanic*skuflō
  3. Old Englishsċofl
  4. Middle Englishschovele
  5. Englishshovel
  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 todayshovelware

From shovel + -ware.

First known use, by meaning

  • from 20th c. A haphazard collection of software assembled in terms of quantity rather than quality.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.