Lexi1 - defenestration - definition and examples

defenestration

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defenestration (noun) /diˌfɛnəˈstɹeɪʃən/

A 17th-century woodcut by Matthäus Merian the Elder depicting the Third Defenestration of Prague which occurred on 23 May 1618. Two Roman Catholic regents of Ferdinand II, the Holy Roman Emperor, and their secretary were thrown out of a third-floor window by Protestant subjects who accused them of suppressing their rights. The men survived the fall, but the incident precipitated the Thirty Years’ War. The woodcut was published in Johann Philipp Abelin’s Theatrum Europaeum.

1

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

2

(Britain) The high-profile removal of a person from an organization.

3

(computing, humorous) The act of removing the Microsoft Windows operating system from a computer in order to install an alternative one.