Other forms: gadgets
A gadget is any small clever electronic device. A useful gadget, kitchen gadgets, the latest gadget.
The word carries a hint that the cleverness exceeds the usefulness, which is why kitchen drawers fill with them. It first appeared in print in 1886 as sailors' slang for a small fitting whose proper name nobody could remember. Its origin is unknown.
1noungadgetA small clever device.
“Her kitchen drawer is full of gadgets she never uses, like a garlic press and an avocado slicer.”
gadget is a device.
First recorded in 1886, apparently sailors' slang for a small fitting. The further origin is unknown.
unknown. First used in print by Robert Brown in 1886 (see quote in definition section). Might come from French gâchette or gagée, or from the French family name Gaget, an industrialist who produced promotional gadgets in collaboration with the project to build the statue of Liberty.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA