Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Hardware \Hard"ware`\, n.
   Ware made of metal, as cutlery, kitchen utensils, and the
   like; ironmongery.

Source : WordNet®

hardware
     n 1: major items of military weaponry (as tanks or missile)
     2: instrumentalities (tools or implements) made of metal [syn:
        {ironware}]
     3: (computer science) the mechanical, magnetic, electronic, and
        electrical components making up a computer system [syn: {computer
        hardware}] [ant: {software}]

Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

hardware
     
         The physical, touchable, material parts of a
        computer or other system.  The term is used to distinguish
        these fixed parts of a system from the more changable
        {software} or {data} components which it executes, stores, or
        carries.
     
        Computer hardware typically consists chiefly of electronic
        devices ({CPU}, {memory}, {display}) with some
        electromechanical parts (keyboard, {printer}, {disk drives},
        {tape drives}, loudspeakers) for input, output, and storage,
        though completely non-electronic (mechanical,
        electromechanical, hydraulic, biological) computers have also
        been conceived of and built.
     
        See also {firmware}, {wetware}.
     
        (1997-01-23)