Vol. 10 · Portmanteaus ·Contemporary (2000–) ·1990
Malware
malicious software
- Meaning
- Software designed to harm or exploit computers.
- Source words
- malicious + software
- Coined by
- Yisrael Radai
- Year
- 1990
Background
Coined by Israeli computer scientist Radai in 1990; by 2000 it had displaced earlier terms like "rogue software" in the security industry.
Contemporary (2000–)
Faster coinage, faster canonisation. Brexit and podcast both reached the OED within a decade of first use — historically rapid. Social media has made visibility, not invention, the rate-limiting step.
Two words, one coinage.
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