The word widget is a placeholder name for an object or, more specifically, a mechanical or other manufactured device. It is an abstract unit of production. The Oxford English Dictionary defines it as "An indefinite name for a gadget 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 of gadget. However, the term also appears earlier in George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart's 1924 play Beggar on Horseback. The term appears in George Goodman's novel and screenplay for The Wheeler Dealers (1963).

The word widget is a placeholder name for an object or, more specifically, a mechanical or other manufactured device. It is an abstract unit of production. The Oxford English Dictionary defines it as "An indefinite name for a gadget 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 of gadget. However, the term also appears earlier in George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart's 1924 play Beggar on Horseback. The term appears in George Goodman's novel and screenplay for The Wheeler Dealers (1963).