Etymograph

English

heroinware

Heroinware 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 2003heroinware

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 2003heroinware

Earliest quotation: 2003, David McCandless, Just one more go…: “Luckily, Jaffe found refuge and eventual salvation with On-Line…”

A compound of heroin + -ware

Ancient Greek ἥρως ‘hero’

German heroisch ‘heroic’

German Heroin

English heroin

Linked words

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

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

through English software

malware, firmware, freeware, shareware, 20 more

Today it means

noun An addictive computer game, especially one played to the extent it interferes with the everyday life of the player.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *warō / heroinware

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