Friday Morning Etymology Lesson: defenestrate

Today’s word comes from my friend Nemo, who says this is his favorite word.  Defenestrate means “ejection from a window” and is our word for Friday because who among us hasn’t wished to throw a coworker or two out the window by the time Friday rolls around?  The word comes from the Latin word fenestra meaning “window.”  This is an exciting word, not just because its meaning brings to mind tossing unsavory objects out of windows, but because it is one of a few words that was created because of a real-life incident!  Two incidents, in fact.  Apparently back in the Middle Ages (and beyond), the people of Prague were quite fond of throwing their officials out of windows.  These two incidents came to be known as the Defenestrations of Prague (in 1419 and again in 1618) precipitating the Hussite War & Thirty Years War, respectively.  Of course the people of Prague weren’t the first, or unfortunately the last, to throw people out of windows, but the description of the events of 1618 mark the first time defenestration was used officially. 

Note: As I type this I am watching a man hanging off the side of a building cleaning its windows. Coincidence? I think not!