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The wordwidget is aplaceholder word for an object or, more specifically, a mechanical or other manufactured device. It is anabstractunit of production.[1]
TheOxford English Dictionary defines it as "An indefinite name for agadget or mechanical contrivance, esp. a small manufactured item" and dates this use back to 1931. It states that the origin is "perhaps U.S." and for etymology suggests that it may be a variant ofgadget.[2]
The term also appears earlier inGeorge S. Kaufman andMoss Hart's 1924 playBeggar on Horseback.[3] General Motors Corporation sponsored a short film in 1939, "Round and Round", which features widgets throughout.[4][5]
When discussing a hypothetical situation, the term is used to represent any type ofpersonal property, with the corresponding termBlackacre used to represent any type ofreal property. In such use, the widget or Blackacre has whatever characteristics are relevant to the scenario. So, if the object being discussed needs to be a liquid, then the widget is liquid. If it needs to be light, heavy, manufactured, naturally occurring or whatever, the widget has the necessary characteristics.In technology, the term has a variant,gigawidget, which is used to describe an object that is fictitious. The term is also used for obfuscation, if the object's real technology, composition, or purpose is unknown.[6]
Widget is used in texts and speech, especially in the context of accounting, to indicate a hypothetical "any-product". Companies in such texts will frequently be given names such as "ABC Widgets" or "Acme Widget Corp." to indicate that the particular business of the hypothetical company is not relevant to the topic of discussion.[7]