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Webster 1913 Edition

Window

Win′dow

,
Noun.
[OE.
windowe
,
windoge
, Icel.
vindauga
window, properly, wind eye; akin to Dan.
vindue
. [GREEK][GREEK][GREEK][GREEK]. See
Wind
,
Noun.
, and
Eye
.]
1.
An opening in the wall of a building for the admission of light and air, usually closed by casements or sashes containing some transparent material, as glass, and capable of being opened and shut at pleasure.
I leaped from the
window
of the citadel.
Shakespeare
Then to come, in spite of sorrow,
And at my
window
bid good morrow.
Milton.
2.
(Arch.)
The shutter, casement, sash with its fittings, or other framework, which closes a window opening.
3.
A figure formed of lines crossing each other.
[R.]
Till he has
windows
on his bread and butter.
King.
French window
(Arch.)
,
a casement window in two folds, usually reaching to the floor; – called also
French casement
.
–
Window back
(Arch.)
,
the inside face of the low, and usually thin, piece of wall between the window sill and the floor below.
–
Window blind
,
a blind or shade for a window.
–
Window bole
,
part of a window closed by a shutter which can be opened at will.
[Scot.]
–
Window box
,
one of the hollows in the sides of a window frame for the weights which counterbalance a lifting sash.
–
Window frame
,
the frame of a window which receives and holds the sashes or casement.
–
Window glass
,
panes of glass for windows; the kind of glass used in windows.
–
Window martin
(Zool.)
,
the common European martin.
[Prov. Eng.]
–
Window oyster
(Zool.)
,
a marine bivalve shell (
Placuna placenta
) native of the East Indies and China. Its valves are very broad, thin, and translucent, and are said to have been used formerly in place of glass.
–
Window pane
.
(a)
(Arch.)
See
Pane
,
Noun.
, 3
(b)
.
(b)
(Zool.)
See
Windowpane
, in the Vocabulary.
–
Window sash
,
the sash, or light frame, in which panes of glass are set for windows.
–
Window seat
,
a seat arranged in the recess of a window. See
Window stool
, under
Stool
.
–
Window shade
,
a shade or blind for a window; usually, one that is hung on a roller.
–
Window shell
(Zool.)
,
the window oyster.
–
Window shutter
,
a shutter or blind used to close or darken windows.
–
Window sill
(Arch.)
,
the flat piece of wood, stone, or the like, at the bottom of a window frame.
–
Window swallow
(Zool.)
,
the common European martin.
[Prov. Eng.]
–
Window tax
,
a tax or duty formerly levied on all windows, or openings for light, above the number of eight in houses standing in cities or towns.
[Eng.]

Win′dow

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Windowed
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Windowing
.]
1.
To furnish with windows.
2.
To place at or in a window.
[R.]
Wouldst thou be
windowed
in great Rome and see
Thy master thus with pleach’d arms, bending down
His corrigible neck?
Shakespeare

Webster 1828 Edition

Window

WINDOW

,
Noun.
[ G. The vulgar pronunciation is windor, as if from the Welsh gwyntdor, wind-door.]
1.
An opening in the wall of a building for the admission of light, and of air when necessary. This opening has a frame on the sides, in which are set movable sashes, containing panes of glass. In the United Sates, the sashes are made to rise and fall, for the admission or exclusion of air. In France, windows are shut with frames or sashes that open and shut vertically, like the leaves of a folding door.
2.
An aperture or opening.
A window shalt thou make to the ark. Genesis 6.
3.
The frame or other thing that covers the aperture.
Ere I let fall the windows of mine eyes.
4.
An aperture; or rather the clouds or water-spouts.
The windows of heaven were opened. Genesis 7.
5.
Lattice or casement; or the network of wire used before the invention of glass. Judges 5.
6.
Lines crossing each other.
Till he has windows on his bread and butter.

WINDOW

,
Verb.
T.
1.
To furnish with windows.
2.
To place at a window. [Unusual.]
3.
To break into openings. [Unusual.]

Definition 2024

window

window

English

A window, viewed from inside.

Noun

window ‎(plural windows)

  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.
    • 1879, Richard Jefferies, The Amateur Poacher, chapter1:
      But then I had the [massive] flintlock by me for protection. ¶ […] The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window at the old mare feeding in the meadow below by the brook, and a 'bead' could be drawn upon Molly, the dairymaid, kissing the fogger behind the hedge, […].
    • 1952, L. F. Salzman, Building in England, p.173:
      A window is an opening in a wall to admit light and air.
    • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 14, in The China Governess:
      Nanny Broome was looking up at the outer wall.  Just under the ceiling there were three lunette windows, heavily barred and blacked out in the normal way by centuries of grime.
  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.
    • 1915, George A. Birmingham, “chapter I”, in Gossamer (Project Gutenberg; EBook #24394), London: Methuen & Co., published 8 January 2013 (Project Gutenberg version), OCLC 558189256:
      There is an hour or two, after the passengers have embarked, which is disquieting and fussy. […] Passengers wander restlessly about or hurry, with futile energy, from place to place. Pushing men hustle each other at the windows of the purser's office, under pretence of expecting letters or despatching telegrams.
  3. (architecture) The shutter, casement, sash with its fittings, or other framework, which closes a window opening.
  4. A period of time when something is available.
    launch window;  window of opportunity;  You have a two-hour window of clear weather to finish working on the lawn.‎
  5. (graphical user interface) A rectangular area on a computer terminal or screen containing some kind of user interface, displaying the output of and allowing input for one of a number of simultaneously running computer processes.
  6. A figure formed of lines crossing each other.
    • William King (1663-1712)
      till he has windows on his bread and butter
  7. (medicine) The time between first infection and detectability.

Coordinate terms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Verb

window ‎(third-person singular simple present windows, present participle windowing, simple past and past participle windowed)

  1. (transitive) To furnish with windows.
  2. (transitive) To place at or in a window.
    Wouldst thou be windowed in great Rome and see / Thy master thus with pleach'd arms, bending down / His corrigible neck? — Shakespeare.

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: write · caught · below · #653: window · instead · giving · presence

Etymology

From Middle English windowe, windohe, windoge, from Old Norse vindauga ‎(“window”, literally “wind-eye", "wind-aperture", "wind-hole”), equivalent to wind +‎ eye. Cognate with Scots wyndo, wyndok, winnock ‎(“window”), Icelandic vindauga ‎(“window”), Faroese vindeyga ‎(“window”), Norwegian Nynorsk vindauga, Norwegian Bokmål vindu ‎(“window”), Danish vindue ‎(“window”), Swedish vindöga ‎(“window”), old German Windauge. The “windows” in these times were just unglazed holes (eyes) in the wall or roof that permitted wind to pass through.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈwɪndəʊ/
  • (US) enPR: wĭnʹdō, IPA(key): /ˈwɪndoʊ/
  • Rhymes: -ɪndəʊ
  • Hyphenation: win‧dow

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