Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A puzzle consisting of a mass of irregularly shaped pieces of cardboard, plastic, or wood that form a picture when fitted together.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A type of puzzle in which the aim is to reconstruct a picture that has been cut (originally, with a jigsaw) into many small interlocking pieces.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a puzzle that requires you to reassemble a picture that has been mounted on a stiff base and cut into interlocking pieces

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

jigsaw + puzzle

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  • A jigsaw puzzle is a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of numerous small, often oddly shaped, interlocking and tessellating pieces. Each piece has a small part of a picture on it; when complete, a jigsaw puzzle produces a complete picture.

    Jigsaw puzzles were originally created by painting a picture on a flat, rectangular piece of wood, and then cutting that picture into small pieces with a jigsaw, hence the name. John Spilsbury, a London mapmaker and engraver, is credited with commercialising jigsaw puzzles around 1760

    _Wikipedia

    February 18, 2008