English
crapware
Crapware comes from Proto-Germanic *warō ‘a good, merchandise, ware’.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*warō‘a good, merchandise, ware’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*warureconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150waru
- English1500–presentsoftware
- Englishearliest quotation 1996crapware
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*warō‘a good, merchandise, ware’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*warureconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150waru
- English1500–presentsoftware
- Englishearliest quotation 1996crapware
Earliest quotation: 1996, Ross Greenberg, Java or ActiveX? Maybe both: “Can it download and execute dangerous code, including viruses…”
A compound of crap + -ware
Old Dutch krappen ‘to cut off’
Old French crappe
Middle French crape
Middle English crappe ‘chaff’
English crap
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *wer- ‘to heed, watch, guard, protect’
wear, guard, con, regard, ward, garage, worm, verge, optic, warn, weir, garrison, panorama, beware, reverence, vermin, revere, wry, vermilion, prosaic, milliner, diorama, guaranty, vermicelli, vermeil, vermiculite, varmint, 64 more
through English software
Today it means
noun Software that is useless or of poor quality.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *warō / crapware