annoyware en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (UK) audio
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁én Proto-Italic *en Proto-Italic *en- Latin in- Proto-Indo-European *h₃ed-der. Proto-Italic *odjom Latin odium Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu. Proto-Italic *-ājō Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Late Latin inodiāre Old French enoiierbor. Middle English anoyen English annoy Proto-Indo-European *sem- Proto-Germanic *samþuz /*samftuz Proto-Indo-European *-yos Proto-Indo-European *-yós Proto-Germanic *-jaz Proto-West Germanic *-ī Proto-West Germanic *samft(ī) Old English sōfte Middle English softe English soft Proto-Germanic *warō Proto-West Germanic *waru Old English waru Middle English ware English -ware English softwarebf. English -ware English annoyware From annoy + -ware.
Meanings
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(informal, uncountable) Software that annoys the user, as by displaying constant advertisements or reminders to register.
[…]where you should put the disclaimer for software (somewhere that the user sees it when they start the program, tho' I wouldn't do that, just put it in the 'about' box like the mpgn.com guy suggests -- otherwise, having something pop up makes it annoyware, IMHO).
1994 September 8, Kendall Bullen, “COPYRIGHT POLICY”, in rec.games.frp (Usenet):