venom
Pronunciation
- /ˈvɛnəm/[1]
Etymology
It is inherited from Middle English venim, also venym and later venom,[2][3][4][5] borrowed from Anglo-Norman venim and Old French venim, a variant of venin,[6][2][3][7] from Vulgar Latin *venīmen,[2][8][7][9] an alteration of Latin venēnum (“drug, potion, poison”).[5][7][4][9] Klein and the Shorter Oxford explain the Vulgar Latin form as a change of suffix after Latin nouns in -īmen,[5][10] while the OED thinks the change of final -n to -m may be due to dissimilation, as in the variant velin and veleno.[6] The Latin word is also the source of veneno and veneno.[6][2] The Latin word is thought to have meant first "love potion",[2][5][3] from Proto-Indo-European *wenes-no-, from the root Proto-Indo-European *wen- (“to desire, strive for”), the source of venus (“love, sexual desire”),[2][8][4] though Ayto calls this derivation speculation.[9] The Anglo-Norman word, recorded from the early 12th century, meant poison, corruption and sorcery.[11] The verb is venimen, from Old French venimer (“to envenom”), or from the noun.[4][6]
Earliest recorded meaning
The poisonous fluid of snakes and other animals: about 1220, in the Bestiary printed in the Old English Miscellany.[6][3] Etymonline dates the word to the mid-13th century.[2]
Semantic evolution
From about 1290 the word was used of poison in general, as given to or drunk by a person, a sense now rare.[6] The figurative sense, a harmful influence or bitter, spiteful feeling or language, is dated to about 1300 by Etymonline and before 1325 by Barnhart,[2][3] and the OED's earliest example of venom of sin or envy is from about 1315.[6] The modern spelling venom is recorded from the late 14th century, or about 1440 according to Barnhart.[2][3] Chaucer used the word, about 1374, for a dye, a sense that died out by 1552.[6] A verb, to poison or to make venomous, is recorded from about 1330;[6] it has been largely replaced by envenom.[6][4]
Timeline
- c. 1220 – the poisonous fluid of snakes and other animals.[6][3]
- c. 1290 – poison in general (now rare).[6]
- c. 1315 – figurative, the venom of sin, envy and so on.[6]
- c. 1330 – verb, to poison.[6]
- c. 1374 – a dye (obsolete by 1552).[6]
- c. 1380 – bitter, virulent feeling or language.[6]
Meanings
Noun
- A poisonous fluid made by some animals, such as snakes, scorpions and bees, and passed on by a bite or sting: The spider's venom paralyses its prey.[12][4][6]
- Bitter spite or malice, especially in words: She answered with unexpected venom.[12][4][6]
- (rare) Poison of any kind.[4][6]
Verb
Word family
- venomless
- antivenom
- envenom
- envenomation
- nonvenomous
- venomous
Related words
- venereal
- venerate
- Venus
- win
References
- ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ a b c d Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
- ^ a b c Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
- ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
- ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins