Etymograph

English

shovelware

Shovelware 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 1997shovelware

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 1997shovelware

Earliest quotation: 1997, Robert H. Reid, Architects of the Web: 1: “Internet vanity broadcasts may be nice for station owner…”

A compound of shovel + -ware

Proto-Germanic *skublō

Proto-Germanic *skuflō

Old English sċofl

Middle English schovele ‘a shovel or spade’

English shovel

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, vermin, revere, vermilion, prosaic, diorama, guaranty, milliner, varmint, vermeil, vermiculite, vermicelli, 64 more

through English software

malware, firmware, freeware, shareware, 20 more

Today it means

noun A haphazard collection of software assembled in terms of quantity rather than quality.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *warō / shovelware

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