Window definition | Dictionary.com

win⋅dow

[win-doh]

–noun

1.	an opening in the wall of a building, the side of a vehicle, etc., for the admission of air or light, or both, commonly fitted with a frame in which are set movable sashes containing panes of glass.

2.	such an opening with the frame, sashes, and panes of glass, or any other device, by which it is closed.

3.	the frame, sashes, and panes of glass, or the like, intended to fit such an opening: Finally the builders put in the windows.

4.	a windowpane.

5.	anything likened to a window in appearance or function, as a transparent section in an envelope, displaying the address.

6.	a period of time regarded as highly favorable for initiating or completing something: Investors have a window of perhaps six months before interest rates rise.

7.	Military. chaff ¹ (def. 5).

8.	Geology. fenster.

9.	Pharmacology. the drug dosage range that results in a therapeutic effect, a lower dose being insufficient and a higher dose being toxic.

10.

Aerospace.

a.	launch window.

b.	a specific area at the outer limits of the earth's atmosphere through which a spacecraft must reenter to arrive safely at its planned destination.

11.	Computers. a section of a display screen that can be created for viewing information from another part of a file or from another file: The split screen feature enables a user to create two or more windows.

–verb (used with object)

12.	to furnish with a window or windows.

13.	Obsolete. to display or put in a window.

Origin:
1175–1225; ME windoge, windowe < ON vindauga, equiv. to vindr wind ¹ + auga eye

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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Language Translation for : Window

Spanish:

ventana, ventanilla,

German:

das Fenster,

Japanese:

窓

View 30 other languages »

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win·dow (wĭn'dō) Pronunciation Key
n.

1. An opening constructed in a wall or roof that functions to admit light or air to an enclosure and is often framed and spanned with glass mounted to permit opening and closing.
2. A framework enclosing a pane of glass for such an opening; a sash.
3. A pane of glass or similar material enclosed in such a framework.
4. An opening that resembles a window in function or appearance.
5. The transparent panel on a window envelope.
6. A launch window.
7. An area at the outer limits of the earth's atmosphere through which a spacecraft must pass in order to return safely.
1. An opening that resembles a window in function or appearance.
2. The transparent panel on a window envelope.
3. A launch window.
4. An area at the outer limits of the earth's atmosphere through which a spacecraft must pass in order to return safely.
The area or space immediately behind a window, especially at the front of a shop.
A means of access or observation: St. Petersburg was Peter the Great's window onto the Baltic.
An interval of time during which an activity can or must take place: a brief window of opportunity for a space mission; a window of vulnerability during which the air force was subject to attack.
Strips of foil dropped from an aircraft to confuse enemy radar; chaff.
A range of electromagnetic frequencies that pass unobstructed through a planetary atmosphere.
Computer Science A rectangular area on the screen that displays its own file or message independently of the other areas of the screen.
Aerospace
1. A launch window.
2. An area at the outer limits of the earth's atmosphere through which a spacecraft must pass in order to return safely.

[Middle English, from Old Norse vindauga : vindr, air, wind; see wē- in Indo-European roots + auga, eye; see ok^w- in Indo-European roots.]

Word History: The source of our word window is a vivid metaphor. Window comes to us from the Scandinavian invaders and settlers of England in the early Middle Ages. Although we have no record of the exact word they gave us, it was related to Old Norse vindauga, "window," a compound made up of vindr, "wind," and auga, "eye," reflecting the fact that at one time windows contained no glass. The metaphor "wind eye" is of a type beloved by Norse and Old English poets and is called a kenning; other examples include oar-steed for "ship" and whale-road for "sea." Recently we have restored to the 800-year-old word window a touch of its poetic heritage, using it figuratively in such phrases as launch window, weather window, and window of opportunity or vulnerability.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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window

c.1225, lit. "wind eye," from O.N. vindauga, from vindr "wind" (see wind (n.)) + auga "eye." Replaced O.E. eagþyrl, lit. "eye-hole," and eagduru, lit. "eye-door." Originally an unglazed hole in a roof, most Gmc. languages adopted a version of L. fenestra to describe the glass version, and Eng. used fenester as a parallel word till mid-16c. Window dressing is first recorded 1790; fig. sense is from 1898. Window seat is attested from 1778. Window-shopping is recorded from 1922. Window of opportunity (1979) is from earlier fig. use in U.S. space program, e.g. launch window (1965).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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window
noun
1.	a framework of wood or metal that contains a glass windowpane and is built into a wall or roof to admit light or air
2.	a transparent opening in a vehicle that allow vision out of the sides or back; usually is capable of being opened
3.	a transparent panel (as of an envelope) inserted in an otherwise opaque material
4.	an opening that resembles a window in appearance or function; "he could see them through a window in the trees"
5.	the time period that is considered best for starting or finishing something; "the expanded window will give us time to catch the thieves"; "they had a window of less than an hour when an attack would have succeeded"
6.	a pane of glass in a window; "the ball shattered the window" [syn: windowpane]
7.	an opening in a wall or screen that admits light and air and through which customers can be served; "he stuck his head in the window"
8.	(computer science) a rectangular part of a computer screen that contains a display different from the rest of the screen

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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window

see out the window.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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window win·dow (wĭn'dō)
n.
A fenestra.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Main Entry: win·dow
Pronunciation: 'win-(")dO, -d&(-w)
Function: noun
1 :

FENESTRA 1

2 : a small surgically created opening : FENESTRA 2a
3 : a usually narrow interval of time or range of values for which a certain condition or an opportunity exists window of opportunity for transplantation —J. P. A. Lodge> window for language learning closes —HeatherLeed> —see THERAPEUTIC WINDOW

Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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window

A period of time during which an action can be expected to generate a successful result. For example, underwriters may have a window for corporate debt issues sandwiched between two periods of heavy U.S. Treasury offerings.

Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms for Today's Investor by David L. Scott.
Copyright © 2003 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Window Rock, AZ (CDP, FIPS 83720)
Location: (35.672752, -109.062097)
Population (2000): 3,059 (998 housing units)
Area: 5.190843 sq mi (land), 0.000000 sq mi (water)
Zip code(s): 86515

U.S. Gazetteer, U.S. Census Bureau
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Window

Win"dow\, n. [OE. windowe, windoge, Icel. vindauga window, properly, wind eye; akin to Dan. vindue. ????. See Wind, n., 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. --Shak.

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 (Zo["o]l.), the common European martin. [Prov. Eng.]

Window oyster (Zo["o]l.), 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, n., 3 (b) . (b) (Zo["o]l.) 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 (Zo["o]l.), 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 (Zo["o]l.), 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.]

Window

Win"dow\, v. 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? --Shak.

Window

properly only an opening in a house for the admission of light and air, covered with lattice-work, which might be opened or closed (2 Kings 1:2; Acts 20:9). The spies in Jericho and Paul at Damascus were let down from the windows of houses abutting on the town wall (Josh. 2:15; 2 Cor. 11:33). The clouds are metaphorically called the "windows of heaven" (Gen. 7:11; Mal. 3:10). The word thus rendered in Isa. 54:12 ought rather to be rendered "battlements" (LXX., "bulwarks;" R.V., "pinnacles"), or as Gesenius renders it, "notched battlements, i.e., suns or rays of the sun"= having a radiated appearance like the sun.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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