English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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

Noun

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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
Translations
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Etymology 2

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Blend of window +‎ gadget

Noun

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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.
Descendants
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Translations
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Further reading

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French

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Etymology

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Borrowed from English widget.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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widget m (plural widgets)

  1. (computing, software) widget

Spanish

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Etymology

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Unadapted borrowing from English widget.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): (everywhere but Argentina and Uruguay) /ˈwiʝet/ [ˈwi.ʝet̪]
  • IPA(key): (Buenos Aires and environs) /ˈwiʃet/ [ˈwi.ʃet̪]
  • IPA(key): (elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay) /ˈwiʒet/ [ˈwi.ʒet̪]

Noun

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widget m (plural widgets)

  1. (computing) widget

Usage notes

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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.