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".

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ahartmetz 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

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.

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embedding-shape 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> 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.

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dismalaf 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Or defenestrate...

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edgyquant 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

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

	▲	UltraSane a day ago \| parent [-]
		People used to empty chamber pots by throwing them out the window.

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cryptonector 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

A uniquely... English word, that.

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throw0101a 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

It originated in Prague due to two incidents:

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

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

	▲	ithkuil 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		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

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QuercusMax 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

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

	▲	cryptonector 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		The joke was that [to my then knowledge] it's not used in Romance languages, but it is used in English.

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dismalaf 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

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

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_0xdd 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

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

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f1shy 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

In italian finestra