Etymology
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spyware (n.)

"software used to obtain covert information about a computer's activities by transmitting data covertly from its hard drive to another computer," by 2000, from spy + ending from software in the computer sense.

Entries linking to spyware

spy (v.)
mid-13c., "to watch stealthily," from Old French espiier "observe, watch closely, spy on, find out," probably from Frankish *spehon or some other Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *spehon- (source also of Old High German *spehon "to look out for, scout, spy," German spähen "to spy," Middle Dutch spien), the Germanic survivals of the productive PIE root *spek- "to observe." Old English had spyrian "make a track, go, pursue; ask about, investigate," also a noun spyrigend "investigator, inquirer." Italian spiare, Spanish espiar also are Germanic loan-words. Meaning "to catch sight of" is from c. 1300. Children's game I spy so called by 1946.
software (n.)
1851, soft wares, "woolen or cotton fabrics," also, "relatively perishable consumer goods," from soft + ware (n.). The computer sense is a separate coinage from 1960, based on hardware.
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Definitions of spyware

spyware (n.)
computer software that obtains information from a user's computer without the user's knowledge or consent;
From wordnet.princeton.edu

Dictionary entries near spyware

sputnik

sputter

sputum

spy

spyglass

spyware

squab

squabble

squad

squadron

squalid

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