venue

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈvɛnjuː/^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English veneu, borrowed from Old French venue (“a coming”),^[2][3][4] the noun use of the feminine past participle of venir (“to come”),^[2][3][5] from Latin venīre (“to come”),^[2][3] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *gwa- (“to go, come”) (see come).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

An assault or attack: probably about 1300 in Barnhart, before 1330 in the OED;^[2][6] Etymonline has the act of arriving about 1300.^[3]

Semantic evolution

A thrust or hit in fencing, and a bout of fencing, are 16th-century senses, now obsolete.^[6][4] The legal sense, the place where a case is tried or from which a jury is summoned, is first recorded in 1531.^[2][5][3] The change of venue is in Blackstone (1768).^[3] It was extended to any place of meeting, especially for a concert or sporting event, by 1857.^[3][4]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – an attack; an arrival.^[2][3]
• 1531 – the place of a trial.^[2]
• 1591 – a thrust in fencing (obsolete).^[6]
• 1768 – change of venue.^[3]
• 1857 – a meeting place.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The place where an event, such as a concert or sports match, is held.
2. (law) The place where a trial is held, or from which the jury is drawn.

Word family

• change of venue

Related words

• avenue
• revenue
• convene
• advent
• event

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press