Cache
Etymology
From French "cacher," to hide, and originally an explorer’s or trapper’s hidden store of supplies. Computing borrowed it in the 1960s for a hidden layer of fast memory sitting quietly between a processor and slower storage. The hiding-place sense survives: a cache does its work invisibly until it holds something stale.
noun · /KASH/
A small, fast store that keeps copies of things you recently used so you don’t have to fetch them again.
What it names
The universal trick behind why the second visit to a page loads instantly — and why "clearing the cache" fixes so many glitches.
Example
The app kept showing the old price until I cleared its cache and reloaded.
Related idea
A cache differs from ordinary memory or storage by being a temporary copy for speed, not the authoritative original — which is exactly why deleting it is safe and often curative.
noun · /KASH/
A hidden store of provisions, weapons, or valuables kept in a secret place.
What it names
It predates the computing sense and names any concealed stockpile — a survivalist's food, a smuggler's guns — rather than fast memory.
Example
Police uncovered a cache of firearms buried beneath the barn.
Related idea
What sets it apart from an ordinary store is concealment: a cache is defined by being hidden — a survivalist's buried food, a smuggler's guns — rather than by being fast.
verb · /KASH/
To store something away in a hidden or quick-to-reach place for later use.
What it names
Deliberate stashing — setting something aside now so it is ready or safe when you need it.
Example
The climbers cached food and fuel along the route for the descent.
Related idea
To hoard is to pile up more than you need and cling to it; to cache is purposeful and organized — you cache supplies to retrieve them, just as a computer caches data for fast reuse.