hardware
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CG: n

CT: Computer systems consist of hardware and software. Hardware is the physical components of the computer, such as the central processing unit (CPU), hard disk, monitor, keyboard and mouse. Software is the programs that run on a computer.

A computer system requires both hardware and software to function. Aside from the internal components of a computer, additional hardware allows the user to communicate with the system through input and output. The table below shows some examples of input and output hardware.

Input device Output device
Mouse Screen
Keyboard Speakers
Camera Printer
Microphone LEDs

S: BBC – https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zkkkw6f/revision/1 (last access: 2 November 2024)

N: 1.mid-15c., “small metal goods,” from hard (adj.) + ware (n.). In the sense of “physical components of a computer” it dates from 1947. Hardware store attested by 1789.

2. Three meanings:

  1. ware (such as fittings, cutlery, tools, utensils, or parts of machines) made of metal.
  2. major items of equipment or their components used for a particular purpose.
    educational hardware: such as a: military equipment; b: the physical components (such as electronic and electrical devices) of a vehicle (such as a spacecraft) or an apparatus (such as a computer).
  3. an award (such as a trophy, medal, or cup) given in a sports competition.

3. hardware, computer machinery and equipment, including memory, cabling, power supply, peripheral devices, and circuit boards. Computer operation requires both hardware and software. Hardware design specifies a computer’s capability; software instructs the computer on what to do. The advent of microprocessors in the late 1970s led to much smaller hardware assemblies and accelerated the proliferation of computers. Personal computers and mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers have become as powerful as the early mainframes, while servers and mainframes are now smaller and have vastly more computing power than the early models.

4. Computer Hardware: hardware, computer equipment.

  • All or part of the physical components of an information processing system.
  • hardware: term and definition standardized by ISO/IEC [International Electrotechnical Commission]; term standardized by the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) and reproduced with its permission.
  • French and Spanish equivalents respectively: matériel, matériel informatique (FR); hardware (ES).

5. Audiovisual Techniques and Equipment; Television Arts: harware, equipment.

  • Audiovisual devices (as distinct from the program materials suitable for these devices, which are termed software).
  • For instance, a tape recorder is a piece of hardware, while the magnetic tape suitable for that recorder is the software. A motion picture projector is hardware; film is the software.
  • The general field of audiovisual aids is itself composed of two related but distinguishable areas, namely, hardware and software. The hardware side is concerned with the actual equipment – overhead projectors, slide projectors, tape recorders … etc. The software side … is concerned with the various items that are used in conjunction with this equipment – such as overhead transparencies, slides, audiotapes, videorecordings and computer programs.
  • The mid-1960’s was a period of consortiums in the audiovisual field – consolidations of industries producing the equipment (“hardware”) and companies designing the programs or materials of instruction (“software”).
  • Software (the activities, materials and processes for teaching, learning and evaluation to be communicated by the hardware) is planned, and development is launched before hardware considerations are begun.
  • French and Spanish equivalents respectively: équipement, matériel, appareils, hardware (FR); equipo (ES).

6. General Hardware:

  • A term applied to a large variety of metal goods, especially domestic ironware (ironmongery) and appliances, hand tools, small metal manufactures and garden appliances.
  • The term includes builders’ hardware, i.e., hardware items used in the construction of new buildings of all kinds, and hardware supplies for gas and electrical and other industries.
  • French and Spanish equivalents respectively: quincallerie (FR); quincallería (ES).

S: 1. Etymonline – https://www.etymonline.com/word/hardware (last access: 2 November 2024). 2. MW – https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hardware (last access: 2 November 2024). 3. EncBrit – https://www.britannica.com/technology/hardware-computing (last access: 2 November 2024). 4 to 6. TERMIUM PLUS – https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2alpha/alpha-eng.html?lang=eng&i=1&srchtxt=hardware&codom2nd_wet=1#resultrecs (last access: 2 November 2024).

SYN: computer equipment

S: TERMIUM PLUS – https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2alpha/alpha-eng.html?lang=eng&i=1&srchtxt=hardware&codom2nd_wet=1#resultrecs (last access: 2 November 2024)

CR: software