hardware

See also: Hardware

English

This entry needs quotations to illustrate usage. If you come across any interesting, durably archived quotes, then please add them! Particularly: “first sense (Fixtures, equipment, tools and devices...)”

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

hardware (uncountable)

2. Fixtures, equipment, fasteners, 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.

3. (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.

5. (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.

6. (technology) Electronic equipment.
7. Metal implements.

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

8. (slang) A firearm.
9. (slang) Medals or trophies.
10. (Philippines) Ellipsis of hardware store.

Derived terms

• biohardware
• hardware-accelerated
• hardware acceleration
• hardware cloth
• hardware description language
• hardware disease
• hardware engineer
• hardwareless
• hardwareman
• hardware node
• hardware store
• hardware wallet
• hardwarily
• nonhardware

Related terms

• software
• vaporware

Descendants

• → Amharic: ሃርድዌር (hardəwer)

Translations

fixtures, equipment, tools and devices

Bulgarian: железари́я f (železaríja) Catalan: ferreteria (ca) f, ferramenta (ca) f Danish: isenkram n Dutch: ijzerwaren (nl) Finnish: rakennustarvikkeet pl French: équipement (fr) m Galician: ferramentas (gl) f pl, ferramenta (gl) f German: Eisenwaren (de) f pl Greek: δομικά υλικά n pl (domiká yliká) Hungarian: barkácsáru, szerszámáru, iparáru, iparcikk (hu) Italian: ferramenta (it) f Latvian: aparatūra f Lithuanian: aparatūra ? Norwegian: Bokmål: jernvare m or f Nynorsk: jarnvare f, jernvare f Plautdietsch: Iesawoakj n Polish: artykuły żelazne nvir Portuguese: equipamento (pt) m Romanian: echipament (ro) n, componente fizice f pl, componente materiale f pl Russian: стройматериа́лы pl (strojmateriály) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: скло̏по̄вље n, чврстовље ?, тврдовље ?, стројевина ?, тврдотворина ? Roman: sklȍpōvlje (sh) n, čvrstovlje ?, tvrdovlje ?, strojevina ?, tvrdotvorina ? Swedish: järnvara (sv) c Turkish: hırdavat (tr) Ukrainian: апарату́ра (uk) (aparatúra), те́хніка (téxnika), прила́ддя (pryláddja) Welsh: caledwedd f West Frisian: izerwaren

equipment

Azerbaijani: avadanlıq (az) Bulgarian: обору́дване (bg) n (oborúdvane) Catalan: equipament m Danish: udstyr (da) n Finnish: kalusto (fi) Galician: equipamento (gl) m Hungarian: felszerelés (hu), berendezés (hu), eszközök (hu) pl Indonesian: peralatan (id), perlengkapan (id) Javanese: peralatan (jv) Malay: peralatan (ms), kelengkapan Norwegian: utstyr n Polish: sprzęt (pl) m, artykuły żelazne nvir Russian: оборудование (ru) n (oborudovanije) Ukrainian: обла́днання (obládnannja), те́хніка (téxnika)

material part of a computer

Arabic: مَتاع الحاسب, المَتاع (al-matāʕ) Azerbaijani: aparat təminatı pl, avadanlıq (az) sg Belarusian: апаратнае забеспячэнне n (aparatnaje zabjespjačennje), абсталяванне n (abstaljavannje) Bengali: হার্ডওয়্যার (bn) (ḣarḍōẏyar) Bulgarian: ха́рдуер (bg) m (hárduer) Catalan: maquinari (ca) m Chinese: Cantonese: 硬件 (ngaang6 gin6-2) Hokkien: 硬體 / 硬体 (zh-min-nan) (ngē-thé, ngī-thé) Mandarin: 硬件 (zh) (yìngjiàn) (mainland China), 硬體 / 硬体 (zh) (yìngtǐ) (Taiwan), 硬設備 / 硬设备 (yìngshèbèi) (mainland China) Czech: hardware (cs) m Danish: hardware (da) c Dutch: hardware (nl) m Esperanto: aparataro Finnish: laitteisto (fi), hardware (fi); (slang) rauta (fi), hardis French: matériel (fr) m, hardware (fr) m, matériel informatique m Galician: hardware (gl) m, soporte físico German: Hardware (de) f Greek: υλισμικό (el) n (ylismikó) Hebrew: חומרה f (khomrá) Hindi: हार्डवेयर m (hārḍaveyar) Hungarian: hardver (hu) Icelandic: vélbúnaður (is) m Ido: hardwaro (io), aparataro Indonesian: perangkat keras (id), peranti keras, peralatan (id) Irish: crua-earraí m pl Italian: hardware (it) m Japanese: ハードウェア (ja) (hādowea), ハード (ja) (hādo) Javanese: ꦥꦶꦫꦤ꧀ꦠꦶ ꦏꦱꦂ (piranti kasar) Korean: 하드웨어 (ko) (hadeuweeo), 굳은모 (gudeunmo) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: hişkalav (ku) Latvian: aparatūra Lithuanian: aparatūra, techninė įranga (lt), aparatinė įranga Malay: perkakasan (ms) Maltese: ħardwer m Maori: pūmārō Marathi: हार्डवेअर n (hārḍavear) Norman: hardware m Norwegian: Bokmål: maskinvare m or f Nynorsk: maskinvare f Persian: سخت‌افزار (fa) (saxt-afzâr) Polish: hardware (pl) m, sprzęt komputerowy m Portuguese: hardware (pt) m Romanian: hardware (ro) n, aparatură (ro) f, aparataj (ro) n Russian: аппарату́ра (ru) f (apparatúra), хардве́р (ru) m (xardvér), аппара́тное обеспече́ние (ru) n (apparátnoje obespečénije), обору́дование (ru) n (oborúdovanije), железо (ru) n (železo) (slang) Scottish Gaelic: bathar-cruaidh m Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: чврстовље ?, тврдовље ?, стројевина ?, тврдотворина ?, скло̏по̄вље n, ха̏рдве̄р m, рачунална склоповска подршка f, стројна опрема f Roman: čvrstovlje ?, tvrdovlje ?, strojevina ?, tvrdotvorina ?, sklȍpōvlje (sh) n, hȁrdvēr (sh) m, računalna sklopovska podrška f, strojna oprema f Spanish: hardware m, soporte físico m, hárdwer m Swahili: maunzi ngumu Swedish: hårdvara (sv) c, maskinvara (sv) c Thai: ฮาร์ดแวร์ (th) (háat-wɛɛ) Tibetan: འཁྲེགས་ཆས ('khregs chas) Turkish: donanım (tr) Turkmen: apparat üpjünçiligi Ukrainian: апаратне забезпечення (aparatne zabezpečennja), апара́тне забезпе́чення (aparátne zabezpéčennja) Urdu: ہارڈ ویئر (hārḍ-vear), مصنع کثیف (musanna'-e-kasīf) Uzbek: apparat ta'minot Vietnamese: cương liệu (vi), phần cứng (vi), phần máy Welsh: caledwedd f West Frisian: hardware

electronic equipment

Bengali: হার্ডওয়্যার (bn) (hardoêr) Chinese: Cantonese: 硬件 (ngaang6 gin6-2) Hokkien: 硬體 / 硬体 (zh-min-nan) (ngē-thé, ngī-thé) Mandarin: 硬件 (zh) (yìngjiàn) (mainland China), 硬體 / 硬体 (zh) (yìngtǐ) (Taiwan) Czech: hardware (cs) m Danish: maskinel n, hardware (da) n Finnish: laitteisto (fi), elektroniikka (fi) Greek: ηλεκτρονικός εξοπλισμός m (ilektronikós exoplismós) Norwegian: Bokmål: maskinvare Polish: sprzęt (pl) m Romanian: hardware (ro) n, aparatură (ro) f Russian: аппарату́ра (ru) f (apparatúra), хардве́р (ru) m (xardvér), обору́дование (ru) n (oborúdovanije) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: скло̏по̄вље n, ха̏рдве̄р m Roman: sklȍpōvlje (sh) n, hȁrdvēr (sh) m Sindhi: ڳڻپيوگري (sd) (g̠ṇpeogre) Spanish: hardware m, soporte físico m, hárdwer m Turkish: donanım (tr) Ukrainian: обла́днання (obládnannja), апара́тне забезпе́чення (aparátne zabezpéčennja)

metal implements

Bulgarian: железари́я f (železaríja) Czech: (please verify) železářské zboží n Danish: udstyr (da) n Finnish: rautatavara French: quincaillerie (fr) f Galician: quincalla f (pejorative), ferralla (gl) f (pejorative) Greek: σιδηρικά n pl (sidiriká), είδη κιγκαλερίας n pl (eídi kigkalerías) Hungarian: vasáru (hu), fémáru (hu) Manx: yiarnrey Polish: artykuły metalowe nvir Portuguese: ferragens f pl Romagnol: ferâm m Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: жељеза̀рија f Roman: željezàrija (sh) f Sindhi: سامگري (sāmagarī) Spanish: fierros (es) m pl Ukrainian: метале́ве знаря́ддя (metaléve znarjáddja)

slang: firearm

Czech: zbraň (cs) f Danish: skydevåben (da) n Finnish: tykki (fi) French: arme à feu (fr) f Greek: σιδερικό (el) n (siderikó) Spanish: arma de fuego (es) f Ukrainian: вогнепа́льна збро́я (vohnepálʹna zbrója)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Korean: (please verify) 기계설비 (gigyeseolbi) Turkish: (please verify) donanım (tr)

Further reading

• hardware on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Finnish

Etymology

English hardware

Pronunciation

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

Noun

hardware

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

Declension

Inflection of hardware (Kotus type 8/nalle, no gradation)
nominative		hardware	hardwaret
genitive		hardwaren	hardwarejen
partitive		hardwarea	hardwareja
illative		hardwareen	hardwareihin
		singular	plural
nominative		hardware	hardwaret
accusative	nom.	hardware	hardwaret
	gen.	hardwaren
genitive		hardwaren	hardwarejen hardwarein rare
partitive		hardwarea	hardwareja
inessive		hardwaressa	hardwareissa
elative		hardwaresta	hardwareista
illative		hardwareen	hardwareihin
adessive		hardwarella	hardwareilla
ablative		hardwarelta	hardwareilta
allative		hardwarelle	hardwareille
essive		hardwarena	hardwareina
translative		hardwareksi	hardwareiksi
abessive		hardwaretta	hardwareitta
instructive		—	hardwarein
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of hardware (Kotus type 8/nalle, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative hardwareni hardwareni accusative nom. hardwareni hardwareni gen. hardwareni genitive hardwareni hardwarejeni hardwareini rare partitive hardwareani hardwarejani inessive hardwaressani hardwareissani elative hardwarestani hardwareistani illative hardwareeni hardwareihini adessive hardwarellani hardwareillani ablative hardwareltani hardwareiltani allative hardwarelleni hardwareilleni essive hardwarenani hardwareinani translative hardwarekseni hardwareikseni abessive hardwarettani hardwareittani instructive — — comitative — hardwareineni second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative hardwaresi hardwaresi accusative nom. hardwaresi hardwaresi gen. hardwaresi genitive hardwaresi hardwarejesi hardwareisi rare partitive hardwareasi hardwarejasi inessive hardwaressasi hardwareissasi elative hardwarestasi hardwareistasi illative hardwareesi hardwareihisi adessive hardwarellasi hardwareillasi ablative hardwareltasi hardwareiltasi allative hardwarellesi hardwareillesi essive hardwarenasi hardwareinasi translative hardwareksesi hardwareiksesi abessive hardwarettasi hardwareittasi instructive — — comitative — hardwareinesi first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative hardwaremme hardwaremme accusative nom. hardwaremme hardwaremme gen. hardwaremme genitive hardwaremme hardwarejemme hardwareimme rare partitive hardwareamme hardwarejamme inessive hardwaressamme hardwareissamme elative hardwarestamme hardwareistamme illative hardwareemme hardwareihimme adessive hardwarellamme hardwareillamme ablative hardwareltamme hardwareiltamme allative hardwarellemme hardwareillemme essive hardwarenamme hardwareinamme translative hardwareksemme hardwareiksemme abessive hardwarettamme hardwareittamme instructive — — comitative — hardwareinemme second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative hardwarenne hardwarenne accusative nom. hardwarenne hardwarenne gen. hardwarenne genitive hardwarenne hardwarejenne hardwareinne rare partitive hardwareanne hardwarejanne inessive hardwaressanne hardwareissanne elative hardwarestanne hardwareistanne illative hardwareenne hardwareihinne adessive hardwarellanne hardwareillanne ablative hardwareltanne hardwareiltanne allative hardwarellenne hardwareillenne essive hardwarenanne hardwareinanne translative hardwareksenne hardwareiksenne abessive hardwarettanne hardwareittanne instructive — — comitative — hardwareinenne third-person possessor singular plural nominative hardwarensa hardwarensa accusative nom. hardwarensa hardwarensa gen. hardwarensa genitive hardwarensa hardwarejensa hardwareinsa rare partitive hardwareaan hardwareansa hardwarejaan hardwarejansa inessive hardwaressaan hardwaressansa hardwareissaan hardwareissansa elative hardwarestaan hardwarestansa hardwareistaan hardwareistansa illative hardwareensa hardwareihinsa adessive hardwarellaan hardwarellansa hardwareillaan hardwareillansa ablative hardwareltaan hardwareltansa hardwareiltaan hardwareiltansa allative hardwarelleen hardwarellensa hardwareilleen hardwareillensa essive hardwarenaan hardwarenansa hardwareinaan hardwareinansa translative hardwarekseen hardwareksensa hardwareikseen hardwareiksensa abessive hardwarettaan hardwarettansa hardwareittaan hardwareittansa instructive — — comitative — hardwareineen hardwareinensa

Derived terms

• hardis

Further reading

• “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 2 July 2023

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English hardware.

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

Noun

hardware m (uncountable)

1. (computing) hardware

   Synonym: matériel

Further reading

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

Norman

Etymology

Borrowed from English hardware.

Noun

hardware m (uncountable)

1. (Jersey, computing) hardware

Polish

Polish Wikipedia has an article on:

hardware

Wikipedia ^pl

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English hardware.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈxard.wɛr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ardwɛr
• Syllabification: hard‧ware

Noun

hardware m inan

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

   Synonym: sprzęt komputerowy

   Coordinate term: software

Declension

Declension of hardware

	singular
nominative	hardware
genitive	hardware'u
dative	hardware'owi
accusative	hardware
instrumental	hardware'em
locative	hardwarze
vocative	hardwarze

Derived terms

adjective

• hardware'owy

Related terms

adverb

• hardware'owo

Further reading

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

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English hardware.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈʁaʁ.dwɛʁ/ [ˈhaɦ.dwɛh]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈʁaʁ.dwɛʁ/ [ˈhaɦ.dwɛh]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /ˈʁaɾ.dwɛɾ/ [ˈhaɾ.dwɛɾ]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ˈʁaʁ.dwɛʁ/ [ˈχaʁ.dwɛχ]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈʁaɻ.dwɛɻ/ [ˈhaɻ.dwɛɻ]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐɾ.duˈɛɾ/ [ɐɾ.ðuˈɛɾ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐɾ.duˈɛɾ/ [ɐɾ.ðuˈɛɾ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐɾ.duˈɛ.ɾi/ [ɐɾ.ðuˈɛ.ɾi]

• Hyphenation: hard‧wa‧re

Noun

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

Further reading

• “hardware”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2025

Romanian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English hardware.

Noun

hardware n (uncountable)

1. (computing) hardware

Declension

singular only	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	hardware	hardwareul
genitive-dative	hardware	hardwareului
vocative	hardwareule

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English hardware.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈxaɾdw̝eɾ/ [ˈxaɾð̞.w̝eɾ], /ˈaɾdweɾ/ [ˈaɾ.ð̞weɾ]

Noun

hardware m (plural hardwares)

1. (computing) hardware

Usage notes

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.

Further reading

• “hardware”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024
• hardware | Diccionario panhispánico de dudas | RAE - ASALE
• algoritmo, software y hardware, cuatro claves de redacción | Fundéu Guzmán Ariza (fundeu.do)