What component is commonly referred to as a 'turbo'?

What component is commonly referred to as a “turbo”? A turbocharger is the component people mean.

A turbocharger is a forced-induction device that uses energy from an engine’s exhaust gases. Exhaust spins a turbine, which shares a shaft with a compressor. The compressor then packs more air into the intake, allowing the engine to burn more fuel and produce more power from a given displacement.

The idea dates to Swiss engineer Alfred Büchi’s 1905 turbocharger patent. Early development focused heavily on aircraft engines, where forced induction helped offset the thin air found at high altitude. Turbochargers later spread to diesel trucks, ships, racing cars, and ordinary passenger vehicles. The first turbocharged production cars appeared in 1962: the Chevrolet Corvair Monza and Oldsmobile Jetfire.

A turbo is not the same as a supercharger. A turbocharger is exhaust-driven, while a supercharger is mechanically driven by the engine, commonly through a belt. An intercooler cools compressed intake air, and a wastegate controls exhaust flow; neither part is itself the turbocharger.