defenestration
noun
Jane Bryant Quinn
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These days, defenestration—from the Latin fenestra, meaning "window"—is often used to describe the forceful removal of someone from public office or from some other advantageous position. History's most famous defenestration, however, was one in which the tossing out the window was quite literal. On May 23, 1618, two imperial regents were found guilty of violating certain guarantees of religious freedom and were thrown out the window of Prague Castle. The men survived the 50-foot tumble into the moat, but the incident marked the beginning of the Bohemian resistance to Hapsburg rule that eventually led to the Thirty Years' War and came to be known as the Defenestration of Prague. It was, in fact, the third such historical defenestration in Prague, but it was the first to be referred to as such by English speakers.
Examples of defenestration in a Sentence
Charles Duhigg, The New Yorker, 7 Oct. 2024
As Devine sees it, Dans’ current defenestration is political, and temporary.
—Alec MacGillis, ProPublica, 1 Aug. 2024
The party was unified and energized in Milwaukee, while the Democrats have been in the throes of a crisis that seems likely now to result in the defenestration of President Joe Biden.
—The Editors, National Review, 19 July 2024
Currently, OpenAI is a nonprofit with a for-profit arm, and the tension inherent in this governance structure was largely responsible for the OpenAI board’s brief defenestration of Altman late last year.
—Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 17 June 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Defenestration.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/defenestration. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
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