3 definitions found
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Hardware \Hard"ware`\, n.
Ware made of metal, as cutlery, kitchen utensils, and the
like; ironmongery.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
hardware
n 1: major items of military weaponry (as tanks or missile)
2: instrumentalities (tools or implements) made of metal [syn:
{ironware}]
3: (computer science) the mechanical, magnetic, electronic, and
electrical components making up a computer system [syn: {computer
hardware}] [ant: {software}]
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:
hardware
<hardware> The physical, touchable, material parts of a
computer or other system. The term is used to distinguish
these fixed parts of a system from the more changable
{software} or {data} components which it executes, stores, or
carries.
Computer hardware typically consists chiefly of electronic
devices ({CPU}, {memory}, {display}) with some
electromechanical parts (keyboard, {printer}, {disk drives},
{tape drives}, loudspeakers) for input, output, and storage,
though completely non-electronic (mechanical,
electromechanical, hydraulic, biological) computers have also
been conceived of and built.
See also {firmware}, {wetware}.
(1997-01-23)