I first learned the word "defenestrate" when I was in high school, studying French. My teacher taught us the French word for "window," and then said, "And now you should be able to figure out what the word 'defenestrate' means."

Well, I'd never heard of the word "defenestrate" (it's listed as "rare" usage), but I was able to get a rough idea of the meaning.

You see, the French word for window is "fenêtre," which is awfully close to the main part of the word "defenestrate." (If I'd been studying Latin, I would have had the word "fenestra," which is even closer.)

So now I just needed to figure out what the prefix "de-" and the suffix "-ate" were doing in this word.

"de-" indicates "removal" or "separation" ("deacceleration," for example, means "removal of acceleration").

In chemistry "-ate" indicates a salt formed from an acid: "sulfate," "nitrate," etc. Fortunately, I hadn't yet taken chemistry when this riddle was posed to me, otherwise I might have assumed "defenestrate" means "remove a window by turning it into a salt."

"-ate" also is used to indicate an action ("separate," "agitate," etc.). So maybe it means "the act of removing a window?"

Not quite! It actually means "remove something by throwing it out the window."

It's also used in a more metaphorical sense, to indicate simply that we're getting rid of something quickly and/or dramatically.

Thus, you could form sentences like these:

My students want to defenestrate their text books.
Let's defenestrate all the presidential candidates and start fresh.

It was recently suggested that we do a Word-of-the-Month blog post about the word virtu. That seems to be a very appropriate suggestion for this website, considering that the site was designed and hosted by VirtuWeb.net. The VirtuWeb logo appears to the left of this paragraph.

But what does the word "virtu" mean?

The word is closely related to the word "virtue." Both words come from a Latin word which simply means "excellence."

But while the word "virtue" is generally used for the purpose of describing moral excellence, "virtu" is a more generic excellence which has nothing to do with morality. "Virtu" is defined as excellence or merit in objects of art. Objects of art (or "objet d'art" in French) is a term used to describe any artistic endeavor which does not fit into the standard, major fields of visual art (panting, drawing, large sculpture). 

Thus, VirtuWeb is so named because they offer excellence in art on the web--unique and attractive websites.

Oh, the words you learn when you have friends in the medical profession. "You need a word of the month?" Beth said, "How about borborygmi?"

Well, how about it? I had no idea what that word meant, even though, it turns out, I do experience it from time to time. And once I looked the word up, I couldn't stop thinking of Winnie the Pooh.

"Hum dum de dum, hum dum de dum
I'm so rumbly in my tumbly
Time to munch an early luncheon."

Yes, that's right, a borborygmus is a "rumbly in my tumbly." It's the "rumbling or gurgling sound caused by the movement of gas in the intestines."

And, of course, borborygmi is what you have if there is more than one "rumbly" in your "tumbly." Unless you're a cow, in which case I suppose borborygmi is what you have if you have a "rumbly" in more than one of your "tumblies." Maybe.

What is the fascinating word origin story of the word? I wish I could tell you. All I could find is that it comes from the Greek word "borborygmós," which just means, "intestinal rumbling."

But I refuse to give up there. If I can't find an entertaining word origin story, I'll make one up for you. Here it is:

orygmos is Greek for "a pit or trench."

borbor is Greek for "muck."

So borborygmos just means "muck pit."

I can live with that. Which is a good thing, because like it or not, it's part of everyday life.

Now I'm going to go find some honey.