[ghewgill]

I had that "a-ha" moment not at first by learning that "fenêtre" means "window", but later when I learned the German word is "Fenster".

[ahartmetz]

It comes from Latin fenestra. People are throwing around lots of languages in this subthread, but it needs to be said that the circonflex indicates an omitted s from the Latin original.

Maybe there are cases where the original isn't Latin, but I've never noticed one, and French does not have many words of non-Latin origin. I'm not sure if English speakers commonly know that, but English is a rare case of thoroughly mixed origins.

[embedding-shape]

> but later when I learned the German word is "Fenster".

Swedish word for it is strikingly similar, but with a hint of being more "hip and trendy restaurant in gentrified neighborhood": Fönster.

[dismalaf]

Or defenestrate...

[edgyquant]

I love that the existence of this word implies being thrown out of a window was so common it required its own word

[UltraSane]

People used to empty chamber pots by throwing them out the window.

[cryptonector]

A uniquely... English word, that.

[throw0101a]

It originated in Prague due to two incidents:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defenestration#Origin

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defenestrations_of_Prague

[ithkuil]

Also used in Italian and presumably in many other languages.

Like with any word, it's use in colloquial form may vary from generation to generation, from subculture to subculture etc

[QuercusMax]

Not at all. It's just the Latin prefix "de" (out of) plus "fenester" meaning window. Not an English word except by borrowing.

[cryptonector]

The joke was that [to my then knowledge] it's not used in Romance languages, but it is used in English.

[QuercusMax]

I believe the term originates with this historical event:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defenestrations_of_Prague

And if you believe Wiki, it was used originally in Middle French.

[dismalaf]

Is it? I know of that word in at least 3 languages.

[_0xdd]

I know this because every Christmas Eve I hear Hans Gruber say "schiessen den fenster".

[f1shy]

In italian finestra