hardware

From Middle English hardware; equivalent to hard +‎ -ware; attested since the mid-15th century.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈhɑːdˌwɛə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈhɑɹdˌwɛɹ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

hardware (uncountable)

1. Fixtures, equipment, tools and devices used for general-purpose construction and repair of a structure or object. Also such equipment as sold as stock by a store of the same name, e.g. hardware store.

   He needed a hammer, nails, screws, nuts, bolts and other assorted hardware, so he went to the hardware store.

2. (informal) Equipment.

   military hardware

   • 2003 June 6, “Mission to Mars”, in CBS_Rather:

     BOWEN: The monster trucks of Mars rovers, joke scientists, equipped with an array of sophisticated hardware to look for signs of water and answer scientists questions.

   • 2009 May, Lee S. Langston, “plowing new ground.”, in Mechanical Engineering, volume 131, number 5, page 40:

     It is one thing to see an intercooler as a simple entry in a textbook, but to witness the actual hardware as it crawled down the road was awe-inspiring.

   • 2011 January, “Swedish Sportster”, in Popular Mechanics, volume 188, number 1, page 27:

     Smaller, turbocharged engines are one way to increase engine efficiency by 8 to 10 percent, but the extra hardware is expensive.

3. (computing) The part of a computer that is fixed and cannot be altered without replacement or physical modification; motherboard, expansion cards, etc. Compare software.
   • 1952, R.L. Michaelson, “Binary Arithmetic”, in The Incorporated Statistician, volume 3, number 1 (Feb. 1952), pages 35–40:

     Hardware is the generally accepted colloquism for anything inside a computer other than an engineer.

4. (technology) Electronic equipment.
5. Metal implements.

   The designers have put their logo on the hardware of this bag here.

6. (slang) A firearm.
7. (slang) Medals or trophies.
8. (Philippines) Short for hardware store.

• → Amharic: ሃርድዌር (hardəwer)

• hardware on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

English hardware

• IPA^(key): /ˈhɑːdweø/, [ˈhɑ̝ːdwe̞ø̞]

hardware

1. (anglicism, computing, electronics) Synonym of laitteisto (“hardware”) (physical equipment, as opposed to software)

• “hardware”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎ (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-02

Borrowed from English.

• ^{(aspirated h)} IPA^(key): /aʁ.dwɛʁ/

• Audio

  (file)

hardware m (uncountable)

1. (computing) hardware

   Synonym: matériel

• “hardware”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Borrowed from English hardware.

hardware m (uncountable)

1. (Jersey, computing) hardware

Unadapted borrowing from English hardware.

• IPA^(key): /ˈxard.wɛr/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ardwɛr
• Syllabification: hard‧ware

hardware m inan

1. (computer hardware) hardware (material part of a computer)

   Synonym: sprzęt komputerowy

   Coordinate term: software

• hardware in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• hardware in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Unadapted borrowing from English hardware.

• Hyphenation: hard‧wa‧re

hardware m (plural hardwares)

1. (computing) hardware (parts of a computer that is fixed and cannot be altered without replacement or physical modification)

   Coordinate term: software

Unadapted borrowing from English hardware.

hardware n (uncountable)

1. (computing) hardware

Unadapted borrowing from English hardware.

• IPA^(key): /ˈxaɾdweɾ/ [ˈxaɾ.ð̞weɾ]
• IPA^(key): /ˈxarweɾ/ [ˈxa.rweɾ]
• IPA^(key): /ˈxaɾɡweɾ/ [ˈxaɾ.ɣ̞weɾ]

hardware m (plural hardwares)

1. (computing) hardware

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

• “hardware”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014