'Soft' originally meant 'gentle, mild' — the physical 'yielding to pressure' sense developed later.
Easy to mould, cut, or compress; not hard or firm to the touch; gentle and quiet; not harsh or severe.
From Old English 'sōfte' meaning 'gentle, mild, easy, comfortable,' from Proto-Germanic *samftijaz, meaning 'level, even, smooth, gentle.' The word is related to Old Saxon 'sāfti' (gentle), Old High German 'semfti' (soft, gentle), and German 'sanft' (gentle, soft). The Proto-Germanic form may derive from PIE *sem- (together, as one), suggesting an original sense of 'fitting together, smooth, even.' The physical sense of 'yielding to pressure' developed alongside the original sense of 'gentle' and eventually became primary. Key roots: *samftijaz (Proto-Germanic: "level
English 'soft' and German 'sanft' (gentle) are cognates, both from Proto-Germanic *samftijaz. English lost the nasal consonant ('m/n') and the final consonant cluster simplified, while German preserved more of the original form. The computing term 'software' (coined 1960) contrasts with 'hardware' using 'soft' in its sense of 'intangible, easily changed' — a metaphor that would have puzzled any speaker before the twentieth century.