Etymologically
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venture

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈvɛn.t͡ʃə/ (UK); /ˈvɛn.t͡ʃɚ/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is a shortened form of Middle English aventure (see adventure),[2][3][4][5] partly because the a- was taken for the indefinite article, “a venture”;[4][6] Etymonline also cites Anglo-Norman venture.[3] The verb is likewise shortened from aventuren.[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Fortune, luck or chance: probably before 1400, in the Morte Arthur;[2] about 1400 in Etymonline, before 1450 in the OED.[3][7]

Semantic evolution

At a venture, at random, is from 1509.[7][4] Risk or peril is by the mid-15th century,[3] and a risky undertaking from before 1566.[2][7] A business enterprise of a speculative kind is from the 1580s,[3] and venture capital is by 1943.[3] The verb, to risk the loss of something, is from about 1430 in Barnhart and about 1500 in Etymonline,[2][3] and the general sense, to dare or presume, from the 1550s.[3] Heywood's Proverbs (1546) has nought venter nought have.[3] In Yorkshire dialect venture meant to expect or suppose.[8]

Timeline

  • before 1400 – fortune, chance.[2]
  • c. 1430 – to risk.[2]
  • 1509 – at a venture.[7]
  • before 1566 – a risky undertaking.[2][7]
  • 1580s – a business enterprise.[3]
  • 1943 – venture capital.[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A risky or daring undertaking.
  2. A business enterprise involving risk in the hope of profit.
  3. Something, such as money, put at risk in an enterprise.

Verb

  1. To expose to danger or loss; to risk.
  2. To dare to go somewhere or do something: venture outside.
  3. To put forward an opinion at the risk of criticism.

Word family

  • venturer
  • venture capital

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)