Etymology

spyware

S1P3Y4W4A1R1E1

Today it means: Programs that surreptitiously monitor and report the actions of a computer user. Full definition →

First used 1990sEnglish softwarebf. ← Middle English ware ← Old English waru
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Englishspy
  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 todayspyware

From spy + -ware.

First known use, by meaning

  • from 1990s Programs that surreptitiously monitor and report the actions of a computer user.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.