Defenestration by Merriam-Webster Lyrics
Welcome to Ask the Editor. I'm Kory Stamper, an Associate Editor at Merriam-Webster.
When people find out what I do for a living, they are always ready to tell me what their favorite word is. One popular one is "defenestration," a word that means "the act of throwing someone or something out a window." Now, part of why people love this word is that it's so odd, and the story behind it is even odder.
In 1609, the Emperor of Bohemia granted freedom of religious expression to the Protestants in Prague. Eight years later, his very Catholic cousin gained control of Bohemia, and this cousin sent officials to stop construction on two new Protestant churches. Protestants in Prague were understandably not pleased, so in 1618, a group of Protestants tried two governors who aided the Catholic officials, found them guilty of violating their earlier decree, and threw them out the window of Prague Castle. Some reports say they fell about 100 feet but were unharmed. Catholics said that angels bore them up, and Protestants said they were saved by the large pile of manure they fell into.
News of this event spread fairly quickly—in fact, this event is what started the Thirty Years' War—and, of course, every quirky news event needs a good title. And thus was born "defenestration"—from the Latin prefix de-, meaning "out" or "from," and the Latin fenestra, meaning "window."
The best part of this story—this event is technically known as the Second Defenestration of Prague. The First Defenestration of Prague occurred about 200 years earlier. There hasn't been a Third Defenestration of Prague, but I'd stay away from windows when going through Prague Castle ... just be safe.
For more installments of Ask the Editor, visit our site merriam-webster.com.
When people find out what I do for a living, they are always ready to tell me what their favorite word is. One popular one is "defenestration," a word that means "the act of throwing someone or something out a window." Now, part of why people love this word is that it's so odd, and the story behind it is even odder.
In 1609, the Emperor of Bohemia granted freedom of religious expression to the Protestants in Prague. Eight years later, his very Catholic cousin gained control of Bohemia, and this cousin sent officials to stop construction on two new Protestant churches. Protestants in Prague were understandably not pleased, so in 1618, a group of Protestants tried two governors who aided the Catholic officials, found them guilty of violating their earlier decree, and threw them out the window of Prague Castle. Some reports say they fell about 100 feet but were unharmed. Catholics said that angels bore them up, and Protestants said they were saved by the large pile of manure they fell into.
News of this event spread fairly quickly—in fact, this event is what started the Thirty Years' War—and, of course, every quirky news event needs a good title. And thus was born "defenestration"—from the Latin prefix de-, meaning "out" or "from," and the Latin fenestra, meaning "window."
The best part of this story—this event is technically known as the Second Defenestration of Prague. The First Defenestration of Prague occurred about 200 years earlier. There hasn't been a Third Defenestration of Prague, but I'd stay away from windows when going through Prague Castle ... just be safe.
For more installments of Ask the Editor, visit our site merriam-webster.com.