what is a gadget gadgets are small machines tools or devices that have a specific function or purpose they tend to be innovative while at the same time practical a gadget is something that is designed to help us complete a task or do something useful cambridge dictionary defines a gadget as a small device or machine with a particular purpose for something to be called a gadget it needs to be useful innovative for its time and something that people use we do not use the term for very large things though if i am talking about a large
machine that pumps water up a hill to a giant reservoir i cannot call it a gadget gadgets tend to be small things many modern gadgets such as smartphones have changed how we do things dramatically today we send and read emails on the go share content in social media take super photographs and watch movies using our smartphones the word gadget is used for a new innovative tech item however when it becomes more widely and commonly used we tend to call it by its proper name let's take a look at the etymology of gadget the word gadget
first appeared in the english language in 1886 it was a sailor's slang word for any small mechanical device or part of a ship when they had forgotten or didn't know its name linguists believe it came from the french word gashet which meant a catch piece of a mechanism gadget in computing in the land of computing and software gadget used to be very commonly used as another name for a widget widget has since become more popular but gadgets can also mean the same as widgets in this context in other words an extension or additional feature of
a software program thank you for watching this brief video on gadgets
