hardware vs software

hardware

noun
  • Electronic equipment. 

  • The part of a computer that is fixed and cannot be altered without replacement or physical modification; motherboard, expansion cards, etc. Compare software. 

  • Fixtures, equipment, 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. 

  • Metal implements. 

  • A firearm. 

  • Medals or trophies. 

  • Equipment. 

software

noun
  • Encoded computer instructions, usually modifiable (unless stored in some form of unalterable memory such as ROM). 

  • Hyponyms: application software, data-oriented software, kitchen table software, on-premises software, malware, schlockware, shareware, shovelware, spyware, system software 

  • The human beings involved in warfare, as opposed to hardware such as weapons and vehicles. 

How often have the words hardware and software occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )