software

Etymology

From soft + -ware, by contrast with hardware (“the computer itself”). Coined by Paul Niquette in 1953; first used in print by Richard Carhart in 1953.

noun

1. (computing) Encoded computer instructions, usually modifiable (unless stored in some form of unalterable memory such as ROM).
   The "software" comprising the carefully planned interpretive routines, compilers, and other aspects of automative programming are at least as important to the modern electronic calculator as its "hardware" of tubes, transistors, wires, tapes and the like. 1958, John W. Tukey, "The Teaching of Concrete Mathematics" in The American Mathematical Monthly, vol. 65, no. 1 (Jan. 1958), pp 1-9
   As originally conceived, the word "software" was merely an obvious way to distinguish a program from the computer itself. A program comprised sequences of changeable instructions each having the power to command the behavior of the permanently crafted machinery, the "hardware." 1995, Paul Niquette, Softword: Provenance for the Word ‘Software’
2. (military) The human beings involved in warfare, as opposed to hardware such as weapons and vehicles.
   The Americans have devoted their attention to the hardware of disarmament: Europeans can make a special contribution to the 'software' or human content of detente. 1989, Christopher Layton, A Step Beyond Fear: Building a European Security Community
   […] preview of horrific images to come, as the hardware stage of the war yields to the software — or human — stage. 1991, New York Magazine, volume 24, number 5, page 33