[furm-wair] 
| a microprogram stored in ROM, designed to implement a function that had previously been provided in software. |
| firm·ware (fûrm'wâr') n. Computer programming instructions that are stored in a read-only memory unit rather than being implemented through software. |
Firmware
Software stored in read-only memory (ROM) or programmable ROM (PROM). Easier to change than hardware but harder than software stored on disk. Firmware is often responsible for the behaviour of a system when it is first switched on. A typical example would be a "monitor" program in a microcomputer which loads the full operating system from disk or from a network and then passes control to it.
