window

Reading level: easy

Estimated CEFR level: A1 — Beginner

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun 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. noun a transparent opening in a vehicle that allow vision out of the sides or back; usually is capable of being opened
  3. noun a transparent panel (as of an envelope) inserted in an otherwise opaque material

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 .

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