fenestra

See also: fenèstra

English

The wings of many insects have transparent areas, called fenestrae.

Etymology

Etymology tree

Etruscan *𐌚𐌍𐌄𐌔𐌕𐌓𐌀 (*fnestra)bor.?

Latin fenestraubor.

English fenestra

Unadapted borrowing from Latin fenestra. Existed in Middle English as fenestre, fenester, from Old English fenester (“window”).

Noun

fenestra (plural fenestras or fenestrae or (obsolete) fenestræ)

1. (anatomy) An opening in a body, sometimes with a membrane.
   • 2010, Aina J. Gulya, Lloyd B. Minor, Michael E. Glasscock, Glasscock-Shambaugh Surgery of the Ear, page 536:

     The platinum shaft connecting the ribbon to the piston base is a rounded wire and can be easily angulated after placement of the prosthesis for optimal incus to fenestra reach.

Synonyms

• vestibular window, oval window (in reference to the human ear)

Related terms

• defenestrate
• fenestella
• fenestral
• fenestra ovalis
• fenestra rotunda
• fenestrated
• fenestration
• fenestrule
• interfenestral
• interfenestration
• intrafenestral
• microfenestration
• multifenestrated
• nonfenestrated
• subfenestral
• transfenestration
• unfenestrated

Anagrams

• Feenstra, fastener, refasten

Franco-Provençal

Noun

fenestra (plural fenestres) (Old Beaujolais, Old Dauphinois)

1. alternative form of fenétra (“window”)

References

• fenestra in Lo trèsor Arpitan – on arpitan.eu
• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002), “fenestra”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volume 3: D–F, page 452

Interlingua

Etymology

From Latin. Compare Italian finestra, French fenêtre, Esperanto fenestro, German Fenster, Dutch venster, Romanian fereastră, Catalan finestra.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /feˈnes.tra/

Noun

fenestra (plural fenestras)

1. window

Latin

Alternative forms

• fēstra

Etymology

Apparently from Etruscan *𐌚𐌍𐌄𐌔𐌕𐌓𐌀 (*fnestra); and fēstra from Etruscan *𐌚𐌄𐌍𐌔𐌕𐌓𐌀 (*fenstra). Compare the Etruscan personal name [script needed] (fnes-ci) and the Latin placename Fensernia, but nothing is known about the meaning of the Etruscan base.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [fɛˈnɛs.tra]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [feˈnɛs.tra]

Noun

fenestra f (genitive fenestrae); first declension

1. a window, an opening for light

   Haec domus quattuor fenestrās habet.

   This house has four windows.

2. a breach
3. a loophole, an arrowslit
4. an orifice, inlet
5. an opportunity, opening, occasion, window of opportunity

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	fenestra	fenestrae
genitive	fenestrae	fenestrārum
dative	fenestrae	fenestrīs
accusative	fenestram	fenestrās
ablative	fenestrā	fenestrīs
vocative	fenestra	fenestrae

Derived terms

• fenestella
• fenestrula

Descendants

• Balkano-Romance:
  • Aromanian: fireastrã
  • Romanian: fereastră, fereastă
    • → Romani: felyastra
• Italo-Dalmatian:
  • Corsican: finestra
  • Dalmatian: finiastra
  • Italian: finestra
  • Neapolitan: fenesta
  • Sicilian: finestra, finesra
  • Venetan: finestra, fenestra
• Rhaeto-Romance:
  • Romansh: fanestra, finiastra, fnestra, faneastra
• Gallo-Italic:
  • Emilian: fnèstra
  • Lombard: fenestra, finestra, fnestra
  • Piedmontese: fnestra, fnesta
• Gallo-Romance:
  • Northern:
    • Franco-Provençal: fenétra
    • Old French: fenestre (see there for further descendants)
  • Southern:
    • Catalan: finestra
    • Occitan: fenèstra
      • Gascon: hrièsta, herièsta, hièstra, hiestra
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Aragonese: finestra
  • Asturian: feniestra (archaic, rare)
  • Old Galician-Portuguese: fẽestra
    • Galician: fiestra
    • Portuguese: fresta
  • Old Spanish: finiestra
    • Early Modern Spanish: hiniestra

Borrowings:

• → Albanian: fënjeshtër
• → English: fenestra (learned)
• → Old Irish: seinistir
• → Portuguese: fenestra (learned)
• → Proto-Brythonic: *fenestr
  • Breton: prenestr, fenestr (or via French)
  • Cornish: fenester
  • Welsh: ffenestr, ffenest
• → Proto-West Germanic: *fenestr (see there for further descendants)
• → Spanish: fenestra (learned)

Further reading

• “fenestra”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “fenestra”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "fenestra", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “fenestra”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “fenestra”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “fenestra”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin fenestra. Compare the inherited doublet fresta.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /feˈnɛs.tɾɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /feˈnɛs.tɾɐ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /feˈnɛʃ.tɾɐ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /fɨˈnɛʃ.tɾɐ/

• Hyphenation: fe‧nes‧tra

Noun

fenestra f (plural fenestras)

1. (dated, formal) window

   Synonym: janela

Further reading

• “fenestra”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Etymology tree

Etruscan *𐌚𐌍𐌄𐌔𐌕𐌓𐌀 (*fnestra)bor.?

Latin fenestralbor.

Romanian fenestra

Learned borrowing from Latin fenestra.

Noun

fenestra f (plural fenestre)

1. fenestra

References

• fenestra in Academia Română, Micul dicționar academic, ediția a II-a, Bucharest: Univers Enciclopedic, 2010. →ISBN

Spanish

Alternative forms

• finiestra, hiniestra (archaic)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin fenestra. Doublet of hiniestra, which was inherited.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /feˈnestɾa/ [feˈnes.t̪ɾa]
• Rhymes: -estɾa
• Syllabification: fe‧nes‧tra

Noun

fenestra f (plural fenestras)

1. (archaic) window

   Synonym: ventana

Derived terms

• defenestración f
• defenestrar

Related terms

• fenestraje

Further reading

• “fenestra”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025