[Ads-l] lightbox

[Barretts Mail]

While the OED and Merriam-Webster have “light box” as a device for providing light on a surface, neither has the meaning of the popup used on webpages that dim the background to highlight the popup content. Wiktionary (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lightbox <https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lightbox>) provides: (Internet) A kind of pop-up that is overlaid across a web page while the rest of the content is dimmed.

Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightbox_(JavaScript) <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightbox_(JavaScript)> ) says that “Lightbox” is a JavaScript library. I do not know if all lightboxes utilize that library, but the term is common enough in web development and is certainly commonly encountered by web users even if they don’t know what they are called:

https://graygrids.com/jquery-javascript-lightbox-image-gallery-plugins/ <https://graygrids.com/jquery-javascript-lightbox-image-gallery-plugins/>
https://www.hongkiat.com/blog/responsive-lightbox-library/ <https://www.hongkiat.com/blog/responsive-lightbox-library/>
https://www.codexcoder.com/best-lightbox-based-free-plugins-for-front-end-development/ <https://www.codexcoder.com/best-lightbox-based-free-plugins-for-front-end-development/>

Benjamin Barrett (he/his/him)
Formerly of Seattle, WA
------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org