Defenestrated

Part of speech: verb, adjective

Definitions

1. Thrown bodily out of a window ; abruptly ousted or dismissed from a job, office, or position of power
2. Pushed or flung through a window to the outside ; forcibly removed or fired from a post without warning
3. Hurled out of a window in violence ; figuratively, suddenly stripped of a role, position, or authority

Etymology: The famous Defenestrations of Prague, in 1419 and 1618, are the reason this word exists, but the word itself is far newer. Its base, "defenestration," was coined in New Latin from "dē-" meaning "out," "fenestra" meaning "window," and the noun-forming "-ātiō," and it was the noun that came first. English then produced the verb "defenestrate" by back-formation, adding the verb-forming suffix "-ate" to the noun, and the first recorded use of that verb dates to 1904. "Fenestra" is the same Latin word that gives English "fenestration," the arrangement of windows in a building's façade, and it has a more ancient lineage in Latin that connects it to the idea of an opening or aperture. Because the element "de-" carries the sense "out of" or "down from," the word literally means throwing something out through a window. The past tense and past participle "defenestrated" follow the regular pattern of the verb, so the adjective use simply describes something or someone who has been thrown out a window.

Synonyms: ejected, ousted, dismissed, removed, expelled

Antonyms: retained, kept