wetware

British  

/ ˈwɛtˌwɛə /

noun

1. computing the nervous system of the brain, as opposed to computer hardware or software

2. computing the programmers, operators, and administrators who operate a computer system, as opposed to the system's hardware or software

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Explanation

When you're comparing a person to a computer system, wetware is the term for the human's brain. It's your wetware that controls your thoughts and feelings. Soon after the invention of computers inspired the terms hardware and software, techies began referring to the human brain as wetware. If you think about a person's ability to make calculations and think logically, it makes sense that our brains are kind of like a computer's hardware — only squishier and wetter. More recently, wetware has also been used for the human minds behind the design of AI.

Example Sentences

When we talk about a computer dying, with "wetware" that is literally the case.

From BBC • Oct. 3, 2025

He also hopes to get in on the developing market for biodiversity credits, and to patent software, wetware and hardware technology the company develops.

From Salon • May 15, 2025

This is a unique opportunity for UC Santa Cruz engineers to incorporate "wetware" -- a term referring to biological models for computing research -- into the software/hardware co-design paradigm that is prevalent in the field.

From Science Daily • Nov. 17, 2023

Talos continues to scrape dust from specimen drawers around the world, and organisms are constantly sampled for any lost wetware of life, from the highest peak to the deepest sea.

From Slate • Feb. 26, 2022

“I mean, not the hardware, but the software/ wetware interface. They said they didn’t . . . I’m not going to cry. I am not going to cry.”

From "Feed" by M.T. Anderson