Etymology

defenestration

de·fen·es·tra·tion
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Today it means: The act of throwing something or especially someone out of a window, especially lethally. Full definition →

First used c. 17th c.New Latin dēfenestrātiō ← Latin fenestra ← Etruscan *𐌚𐌍𐌄𐌔𐌕𐌓𐌀 (*fnestra)bor.?
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*de
  2. Proto-Indo-European*déh₁
  3. Proto-Italic*dē
  4. Latindē
  5. Etruscan*𐌚𐌍𐌄𐌔𐌕𐌓𐌀 (*fnestra)bor.?
  6. Latinfenestra
  7. New Latindēfenestrātiō
  8. English todaydefenestration

From New Latin defenestratio, from dē (“from; out”) + fenestra (“window”) + -atio (suffix indicating an action or process); compare Middle French défenestrer (modern French défenestrer), défenestration, Italian defenestrazione and German Fenstersturz. The verb defenestrate was formed later.

First known use, by meaning

  • from c. 17th c. The act of throwing something or especially someone out of a window, especially lethally.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.