means An insulated appliance that keeps food and drink cold to slow spoilage, the everyday cold box of the modern kitchen.

from From Latin 'refrigerare,' to make cold again — built from 're-' (again) plus 'frigus' (cold, frost), the same chill that gives us 'frigid.' The word for the cooling process came first; 'refrigerator' was applied to various cold-keeping devices well before the electric kitchen model existed. In everyday speech it eventually shrank to the cozy 'fridge,' which oddly kept a 'd' the full word never had.