Etymology

widget

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Today it means: A placeholder name for an unnamed, unspecified, or hypothetical manufactured good or product, typically as an example for purposes of explaining concepts. Full definition →

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widget · noun1

Coined by American playwright George S. Kaufman in 1924 in his play Beggar on Horseback (1924). The preface to the 1924 play credits an earlier German work from 1911 where there is an actor Elisabeth Wigge.

widget · noun2

Blend of window + gadget.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.