window

English

A window, viewed from inside.

Etymology

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₂weh₁-
Proto-Indo-European *-ti
Proto-Indo-European *h₂wḗh₁ti
Proto-Indo-European *h₂wéh₁n̥ts
Proto-Germanic *windaz
Old Norse vindr
Proto-Indo-European *h₃ekʷ-der.
Proto-Germanic *augô
Proto-Norse *ᚨᚢᚷᚨ (*auga)
Old Norse auga
Old Norse vindaugabor.
Middle English wyndowe
English window

    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 (Can this(+) etymology be sourced?).

    For semantic parallels, compare Gothic 𐌰𐌿𐌲𐌰𐌳𐌰𐌿𐍂𐍉 (augadaurō, “window”, literally “eye-door”); Vulgar Latin *ventāna, from ventus (“wind”); and Proto-Slavic *okъnò (“window”), from *ȍko (“eye”).

    Pronunciation

    • (UK)
    • (US) enPR: wĭnʹdō, IPA(key): /ˈwɪndoʊ/
      • Audio (US):(file)
      • (colloquial, folk speech, nonstandard) enPR: wĭnʹdə, IPA(key): /ˈwɪndə/
    • (Australia) IPA(key): /ˈwɪndəʉ/
    • (New Zealand) IPA(key): /ˈwəndɐʉ/
    • Rhymes: -ɪndəʊ
    • Hyphenation: win‧dow

    Noun

    window (countable and uncountable, 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.
      She opened the window to let some air in.
      • 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:
        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, page 173:
        A window is an opening in a wall to admit light and air.
      • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 14, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
        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, G[eorge] A. Birmingham [pseudonym; James Owen Hannay], chapter I, in Gossamer, New York, N.Y.: George H. Doran Company, →OCLC:
        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. (figurative) A period of time when something is available or possible; a limited opportunity.
      launch window
      window of opportunity
      You have a two-hour window of clear weather to finish working on the lawn.
      • 2018 July 8, Euan McKirdy, Hilary Whiteman, “Thai cave rescue: Divers enter cave to free boys”, in CNN‎[1], Atlanta, Ga.: Warner Bros. Discovery, retrieved 8 July 2018:
        But rescuers have a dwindling window of opportunity, with forecasters predicting the return of heavy monsoon rains in the coming days, effectively sealing off the cave until October.
        (Can we archive this URL?)
      • 2017 August 25, Euan McKirdy et al., “Arrest warrant to be issued for former Thai PM Yingluck Shinawatra”, in CNN‎[2], Atlanta, Ga.: Warner Bros. Discovery, retrieved 25 August 2017:
        Now she'll be thinking about fleeing. (The verdict delay) provides a window for potential flight....if she has not fled already.
        (Can we archive this URL?)
      • 2019 November 6, “Network News”, in Rail, page 26:
        An extensive period of trial running will then take place in the first quarter of 2020. The full opening of the Elizabeth Line is still planned to be within a six-month window between October 2020 and March 2021.
      • 2024 April 23, Luke Harding, Dan Sabbagh, quoting Institute for the Study of War, “Russian forces make significant gains in eastern Ukraine”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎[3], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 11 October 2026:
        “The Russian military command is likely aware of the closing window before more western aid arrives and is trying to secure offensive gains before the window closes,” it said in a briefing on Monday.
    5. (figurative) Something that allows one to see through or into something.
      His journal provides a rare window into his otherwise obscure life.
      • 1977 December 17, Circle of Loving Companions, “Critical Friends”, in Gay Community News, volume 5, number 24, page 4:
        Then we read Spear's confrontational commentary on the "Richard Pryor Incident" from the Black perspective...and suddenly we began to feel that GCN's window on the Gay World was something we couldn't live without since no other Gay Media voice seemed so speaking.
      • 1989 May, Priit J. Vesilind, “The Baltic: Arena of Power”, in National Geographic, volume 175, number 5, page 604:
        Leningrad, Russia's traditional window on the West, finds the world peering back in fascination.
    6. A restricted range.
      • 2015, Patrick R. Nicolas, Scala for Machine Learning, page 109:
        In this case, a band-pass filter using a range or window of frequencies is appropriate to isolate the frequency or the group of frequencies that characterize a specific cycle.
    8. (graphical user interface) 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.
    9. A figure formed of lines crossing each other.
      • 1709, William King, Art of Cookery:
        till he has windows on his bread and butter
    10. (medicine) The time between first infection and detectability.
    11. (military, historical, uncountable) Synonym of chaff (“strips of material intended to confuse radar”)
    12. (signal processing) A function multiplied with a signal to reduce spectral leakage when performing a Fourier transform.
    13. (geology) A fenster: a geologic or tectonic window.
      • 1927, Léon William Collet, The Structure of the Alps, page 232:
        […] the Hohe Tauern window. In the transverse depression between the windows, the Silvretta Nappe disappears almost entirely underneath the Oetztal Nappe. The southern margin of the Northern Limestone zone is formed by the "Greywacke zone" of […]

    Synonyms

    • (glass-covered opening): glass

    Coordinate terms

    • (glass-covered opening): door

    Derived terms

    Terms derived from window (noun)

    Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
    Translations to be checked

    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.
    3. (transitive, signal processing) To apply a window function to (a signal).
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