Welcome • User Guide
ToS • Privacy • Canary
Donate • Bugs • License

©2024 Poal.co

212
• (+6/-0)
Defenestration

dē-fĕn′ĭ-strā′shən

An act of throwing someone or something out of a window.

Etymology (etymonline.com)

I don't know why I know this word. I can't recall ever hearing it in any context. Ever. It just crossed my mind so I thought I'd look it up. Now it's yours to use and encourage others to pursue.

dē-fĕn′ĭ-strā′shən An act of throwing someone or something out of a window. [Etymology](https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=defentration) --- I don't know why I know this word. I can't recall ever hearing it in any context. Ever. It just crossed my mind so I thought I'd look it up. Now it's yours to use and encourage others to pursue.
[–] • 3 pts

The Defenestration of Prague

[–] • 1 pt

Prior to reading the etymology I was unfamiliar with the incident. I'm just glad that such words kick around in my head.

[–] • 1 pt

That's the only reason I know it, from Euro History class

[–] • 1 pt

I never took a dedicated Euro History class, but clearly I should have. (britannica.com) This is good reading.

[–] • 1 pt

Would this be an appropriate word to also describe the act of making a sailor walk the plank, or putting a spaceship crew member out of an airlock? Or is the word technically limited to a window?

[–] • 1 pt

Strictly by the history of it I would think it's limited to windows. Putting someone out of an airlock is close but feels more analogous to a door than a window.

[–] • 1 pt

You never heard the saying, "Don't defenestrate the baby with the bathwater?".

[–] • 1 pt

"Fenestrated" is commonly used in medical terminology

[–] • 1 pt

Being only tangential connected to the medical field I don't feel in the least embarrassed that I didn't know this. Brevity dictates that a single word for "It has an opening larger than you might expect" is only appropriate.

[–] • 1 pt

I only ever remember it because the German word for window is Fenster.

[–] • 0 pt

Defenestration song by have a nice life is how I came across the word.