AWT stands for Abstract Window Toolkit, which is an API used for developing Graphical User Interface (GUI) or window-based applications in Java. AWT is a platform-dependent toolkit, meaning that its components are displayed according to the view of the operating system. It is part of the Java Foundation Classes (JFC), which provides a way to build platform-independent graphical applications.

Some key points about AWT include:

• AWT is Javas original platform-dependent windowing, graphics, and user-interface widget toolkit, preceding Swing.
• AWT is heavyweight, meaning that its components consume resources from the underlying operating system (OS).
• AWT provides a basic set of GUI widgets such as buttons, text boxes, and menus, as well as several layout managers and the interface to input devices such as mouse and keyboard.
• AWT also provides the AWT Native Interface, which enables rendering libraries compiled to native code to draw directly to an AWT.

In summary, AWT is a toolkit used for developing GUI or window-based applications in Java, and it provides a set of classes and methods for creating and managing GUI components.