soft
Definitions
General English
- adjective which moves easily when pressed
- adjective not loud
- adjective not bright
Computing
- adjective used to describe material which loses its magnetic effects when removed from a magnetic field
- adjective used to describe data which is not permanently stored in hardware. Soft usually refers to data stored on magnetic medium.
Electronics
- Easy to cut, work, or shape.
- Having energy that is comparatively lower than hard radiation, as do soft X-rays.
- Not readily penetrating matter. Said of radiation, such as soft X-rays.
- That which is flexible, adaptable, or temporary. For example, soft copy, or a soft error.
- adjective dealing with other than serious issues or facts
Medical
- adjective not hard or not resistant to pressure
Wine
- used to describe a wine that is low in tannin or acidity and so is full and gentle on the palate, though this can also result in wine that lacks clarity and definition
Origin & History of “soft”
Soft goes
back to a prehistoric
west Germanic *
samft-,
which also produced German
sanft ‘gentle,
easy, smooth’ and Dutch
zacht ‘soft’. It may go back ultimately to the prehistoric
base *
sōrn- ‘fitting, agreeable’,
source of
English seem and
seemly.
