different between defenestrate vs defenestration

English

Etymology

Back-formation from defenestration, from Latin de- (“out”) + fenestra (“window”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /d??f?n?st?e?t/
• (US) IPA^(key): /d??f?n?st?e?t/

Verb

defenestrate (third-person singular simple present defenestrates, present participle defenestrating, simple past and past participle defenestrated)

1. (transitive) To eject or throw (someone or something) from a window; compare transfenestrate.
   • 1998 September 25, Lane Smith, quoted in "TFK Q&A: Lane Smith and Jon Scieszka", in Time for Kids:

     I defenestrated a clock to see if time flies!

2. (transitive) To throw out; to remove or dismiss (someone) from a position of power or authority.
   • 1998, Barry J. Fraser and Kenneth George Tobin, International Handbook of Science Education, Volume 2,

     The cultural historians of science 'feel the need to defenestrate science, or at least take it off its pedestal' (Pumfrey. Rossi & Slawinski 1991. p. 3).

   • 2001, The Economist, Volume 381, Issues 8498-8501, Page 42,

     Ever since he helped to defenestrate Richard Nixon in 1974, Mr Woodward has been a sort of super-reporter ...
3. (computing, transitive, humorous, slang) To remove a Windows operating system from a computer.
   • 1998 December 17, Darren Salt <[email protected]>, "Re: Coding speccy games in the good 'ole days", message-ID <48B60EA729%[email protected]>, comp.sys.sinclair, Usenet [1]:

     This posting was written on a Windows 95 PC,

     Defenestrate it immediately. Install Linux. :-)

   • 2001 July 21, "Packet Rat" (pseudonym), "Judge Rat calls for a Microsoft defenestration", on GCN: Government Computer News:

     ? Enable one-click uninstalls of unwanted OS and application features with a Defenestrate icon.

   • 2007 May 16, Richard Stallman, speech, Free Software and Beyond: Human Rights in the Use of Software and Other Published Works,

     Now of course people who want freedom shouldn't use Windows at all, you've got to defenestrate your computer, which mean either you throw Windows out of the computer, or you throw the computer out the window.

Translations

References

• “defenestrate” in PC Magazine Encyclopedia.

See also

• Defenestration on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Defenestrations of Prague on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Italian

Verb

defenestrate

1. second-person plural present indicative of defenestrare
2. second-person plural imperative of defenestrare

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /d??f?n??st?e??(?)n/, /?di?-/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /di?f?n??st?e???n/
• Rhymes: -e???n
• Hyphenation: de?fe?nes?tra?tion

Noun

defenestration (countable and uncountable, plural defenestrations)

1. The act of throwing something or someone out of a window. [from c. 17th c.]
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.

Usage notes

Defenestration (sense 1) was historically committed as an act of political dissent, as with the Defenestrations of Prague.

Related terms

• autodefenestration
• defenestrate
• fenestrate
• fenestration

Translations

Further reading

• defenestration on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• defenestration in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• defenestration at OneLook Dictionary Search