widget

• (Received Pronunciation, US) IPA^(key): /ˈwɪd͡ʒ.ɪt/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

  • Rhymes: -ɪdʒɪt

Coined by American playwright George S. Kaufman in 1924 in his play Beggar on Horseback (1924).

widget (plural widgets)

1. A placeholder name for an unnamed, unspecified, or hypothetical manufactured good or product, typically as an example for purposes of explaining concepts.

   Synonyms: thingy, gizmo, sprocket; see also Thesaurus:thingy

   Suppose we have a widget factory that produces 100 units per year...

   • 2020 August 12, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Rail at the brink? Not yet...”, in Rail, page 3:

     Damage inflicted on the rail industry supply chain, from major contractors to widget manufacturers, would have further profound nationwide consequences on an already damaged industry and wrecked economy.

2. A floating device inside a beer can, meant to create foam when opened.
3. A small scraping tool consisting of a blade and a handle, commonly used to remove paint from glass and other smooth surfaces.

   Synonym: scraper

4. (informal) Synonym of tool, implement, device, gadget, part

Blend of window +‎ gadget

widget (plural widgets)

1. (graphical user interface) Any one of the components of a computer application's graphical user interface, such as a Cancel button or text input box that a user interacts with.

   Synonym: control

2. (graphical user interface) A small applet that can be placed on the desktop or in a sidebar, etc.

• widget on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• graphical widget on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• software widget on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “widget”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Borrowed from English widget.

widget m (plural widgets)

1. (computing, software) widget

Unadapted borrowing from English widget.

• Rhymes: -iʝet

widget m (plural widgets)

1. (computing) widget

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.