Etymograph

English

cheeseware

Cheeseware comes from Proto-Germanic *warō ‘a good, merchandise, ware’.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*warō‘a good, merchandise, ware’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*warureconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150waru
  4. English1500–presentsoftware
  5. Englishearliest quotation 2000cheeseware

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*warō‘a good, merchandise, ware’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*warureconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150waru
  4. English1500–presentsoftware
  5. Englishearliest quotation 2000cheeseware

Earliest quotation: 2000, The New Computers in School: “Perhaps most important, it has removed us even further…”

A compound of cheese + -ware

Latin cāseus

Proto-Germanic *kāsijaz

Proto-West Germanic *kāsī

Old English ċīese

Middle English chese

English cheese

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *wer- ‘to heed, watch, guard, protect’

wear, guard, con, garage, regard, ward, worm, verge, optic, warn, garrison, weir, panorama, reverence, beware, vermin, revere, wry, vermilion, prosaic, diorama, guaranty, milliner, vermicelli, vermeil, vermiculite, varmint, 64 more

through English software

malware, firmware, freeware, shareware, 20 more

Today it means

noun Exceptionally low-quality software.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *warō / cheeseware

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