frobnitz

Meaning

Noun

• Synonym of gizmo

Origin

• Coined by David R. Sawyer of the MIT Tech Model Railroad Club (TMRC) as a fanciful name for model railroad parts, perhaps originally as a proper noun. More general use presumably dates from the 1960s, as it is not found in the TMRC dictionaries of 1959 or 1960.Peter Samson, June 1959 (with 2005 commentary),
• late summer/early fall 1960 (with 2005 commentary).