English Explanatory Dictionary

window

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. An opening, usually covered by one or more panes of clear glass, to allow light and air from outside to enter a building or vehicle.
  2. An opening, usually covered by glass, in a shop which allows people to view the shop and its products from outside; a shop window.
  3. The shutter, casement, sash with its fittings, or other framework, which closes a window opening.
  4. A period of time when something is available or possible; a limited opportunity.
  5. Something that allows one to see through or into something.
  6. A restricted range.
  7. A rectangular area on a computer terminal or screen containing some kind of user interface, displaying output and allowing input, often for a single task in a multitasking system.
  8. A figure formed of lines crossing each other.
  9. The time between first infection and detectability.
  10. Synonym of chaff (“strips of material intended to confuse radar”)
  11. A function multiplied with a signal to reduce spectral leakage when performing a Fourier transform.
  12. A fenster: a geologic or tectonic window.
verb
  1. To furnish with windows.
  2. To place at or in a window.
  3. To apply a window function to (a signal).

Pronunciation

/ˈwɪndəʊ/ En-uk-window.ogg /ˈwɪndə/ wĭnʹdō /ˈwɪndoʊ/ en-us-window.ogg wĭnʹdə

Word forms

window windows windowing windowed

Etymology

From Middle English wyndowe, wyndown, from Old Norse vindauga (“window”, literally “wind-eye; wind-hole”), equivalent to wind + eye. Cognate with Scots windae and windock, Faroese vindeyga, Norwegian Bokmål vindu, Norwegian Nynorsk vindauge, Danish vindue, archaic Swedish vindöga, Elfdalian windog. Displaced native Old English ēagþȳrel (literally “eye hole”) (the rare direct descendant is eyethurl (“window, pupil, etc.”)). The “windows” among early Germanic peoples were just unglazed holes (eyes) in the wall or roof that permitted wind to pass through .

Synonyms

glass chaff

Related words

eye wind

Derived words

anabolic window awning window bay window boob window bow window broken window broken windows theory cabinet window casement window Catherine-wheel window cochlear window coffin window compass window dialog window dormer-window dormer window dormant window drop window electric window fly window French window gable window garret window go out of the window go out the window Jesse window Johari window Judas window Kaiser window lancet window lattice window launch window loop-window low side window lucarne window luthern window luthern-window maintenance window make a better door than a window marigold window mezzanine window mullion window Norman window not have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of ogive window one-window opera window opportunity window oriel window out of the window out the window oval window Overton window palette window Palladian window picture window process window index re-entry window rose window round window
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