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Origin and history of spyware

spyware(n.)

"software used to obtain covert information about a computer's activities by transmitting data covertly from its hard drive to another computer," by 2000, from spy + ending from software in the computer sense.

also from 2000

Entries linking to spyware

software(n.)

by 1820, soft-wares, "woolen or cotton fabrics," also, "relatively perishable consumer goods," from soft + ware (n.). The use in reference to computers is a separate coinage, attested by 1960, based on hardware in the computing sense.

[The auction] where each person seemed equally anxious to purchase the hard-wares, the soft-wares and the brittle-wares, held up for sale. [Mrs. Mac Nally, Eccentricity, 1820.]
spy(v.)

mid-13c., spien, "to watch stealthily," from Old French espiier "observe, watch closely, spy on, find out," probably from Frankish *spehon or some other Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *spehon- (source also of Old High German *spehon "to look out for, scout, spy," German spähen "to spy," Middle Dutch spien). These are the Germanic survivals of the productive PIE root *spek- "to observe."

Old English had spyrian "make a track, go, pursue; ask about, investigate," also a noun spyrigend "investigator, inquirer." Italian spiare, Spanish espiar also are Germanic loan-words.

The meaning "catch sight of, discover at a distance or from a place of concealment" is from c. 1300. The intransitive meaning "play the spy, conduct surveillance" is from mid-15c. The children's game I spy was so called by 1946.

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    higgledy-piggledy
    "confusedly, hurriedly," 1590s, a "vocal gesture" [OED] probably formed from pig and the animal's suggestions of mess and disorder. Reduplications in the h-/p- pattern are common (as in hanky-panky, hocus-pocus, hinch(y)-pinch(y), an obsolete children's game, attested from c. 160
    traffic
    c. 1500, "trade, commerce," from  French trafique (15c.), from Italian traffico (14c.), from trafficare "carry on trade," of uncertain origin, perhaps from a Vulgar Latin *transfricare "to rub across," from Latin trans "across" (see trans-) + fricare "to rub" (see friction),
    gang
    from Old English gang "a going, journey, way, passage," and Old Norse gangr "a group of men, a set," both from Proto-Germanic *gangaz (source also of Old Saxon, Old Frisian, Danish, Dutch, Old High German, German gang, Old Norse gangr, Gothic gagg "act of going"), of uncertain or
    bozo
    1920, "muscular low-I.Q. male," originally appearing in boxing slang (compare bimbo). Perhaps from Spanish bozal, used in the slave trade and also to mean "one who speaks Spanish poorly." It was also a proper name of Eastern European origin. By 1913 a vaudeville actor named Bob A
    badminton
    outdoor game similar to lawn tennis but played with a shuttlecock, 1874, from Badminton House, name of Gloucestershire estate of the Duke of Beaufort, where the game first was played in England, mid-19c., having been picked up by British officers from Indian poona. The place name
    prowess
    early 13c., prouesse, "an act of bravery;" c. 1300, "military bravery combined with skill in combat," from Old French proece "prowess, courage, brave deed" (Modern French prouesse), from prou, later variant of prud "brave, valiant," from Vulgar Latin *prodem (source also of Spani
    humility
    early 14c., "quality of being humble," from Old French umelite "humility, modesty, sweetness" (Modern French humilité), from Latin humilitatem (nominative humilitas) "lowness, small stature; insignificance; baseness, littleness of mind," in Church Latin "meekness," from humilis "
    arcane
    "hidden, secret," 1540s, from Latin arcanus "secret, hidden, private, concealed," from arcere "to close up, enclose, contain," from arca "chest, box, place for safe-keeping," from PIE root *ark- "to hold, contain, guard" (source also of Greek arkos "defense," arkein "to ward off;
    ginger
    11c., from Old English ginȝifer, ginȝiber, from Late Latin gingiber, from Latin zingiberi, from Greek zingiberis, from Prakrit (Middle Indic) singabera, from Sanskrit srngaveram, from srngam "horn" + vera- "body," so called from the shape of its root. But this may be Sanskrit fol
    quell
    Middle English quellen "to kill" (a person or animal), from Old English cwellan "to kill, cause to die; murder, execute," from Proto-Germanic *kwaljanan (source also of Old English cwelan "to die," cwalu "violent death;" Old Saxon quellian "to torture, kill;" Old Norse kvelja "to

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