What is "defenestration"

defenestration \de*fen`es*tra"tion\ (d[-e]*f[e^]n`[e^]s*tr[=a]"sh[u^]n), n. the act of throwing (something or someone) out of a window.

1620, "the action of throwing out of a window," from Latin fenestra "window" (see fenestration). A word invented for one incident: the "Defenestration of Prague," May 21, 1618, when two Catholic deputies to the Bohemian national assembly and a secretary were tossed out the window (into a moat) of the castle of Hradshin by Protestant radicals. It marked the start of the Thirty Years War. Some linguists link fenestra with Greek verb phainein "to show;" others see in it an Etruscan borrowing, based on the suffix -(s)tra, as in Latin loan-words aplustre "the carved stern of a ship with its ornaments," genista "the plant broom," lanista "trainer of gladiators." Related: Defenestrate (1915); defenestrated (1620).

n. 1 The act of throwing something, or someone, out of a window. 2 (context British English) High profile removal of a person from an organization. 3 (context neologism humorous English) The act of removing the (w: Microsoft Windows) operating system from a computer in order to install an alternative one.

n. the act of throwing someone or something out of a window

Defenestration is the act of throwing someone or something out of a window. The term was coined around the time of an incident in Prague Castle in the year 1618, which became the spark that started the Thirty years war. This was done in "good Bohemian style" and referred to the defenestration which had occurred in the same city's City Hall almost 200 years earlier (July 1419), which also at that occasion led to war, the Hussite war. The word comes from the New Latin de- (out of or away from) and fenestra (window or opening). Likewise, it can also refer to the condition of being thrown out of a window, as in " The Defenestration of Ermintrude Inch".

While the act of defenestration connotes the forcible or peremptory removal of an adversary, and the term is sometimes used in just that sense, it also suggests breaking the windows in the process (de- also means removal). Although defenestrations can be fatal depending on the height of the window through which a person is thrown or throws oneself or due to lacerations from broken glass, the act of defenestration need not carry the intent of, or result in, death.

Defenestration were a UK nu metal band from 1999 to 2004, based in the Northamptonshire town of Kettering.