velenoso

Forms

velenoso (feminine velenosa, masculine plural velenosi, feminine plural velenose, superlative velenosissimo)^[1] The old form is Old Italian venenoso, common in Dante's time and still literary.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin venēnōsus (“poisonous”), a derivative of Latin venēnum (“poison”), reshaped after veleno.^[5][6][4][3] The GDLI sees it rather as a derivative of the Italian noun modelled on the Late Latin word.^[7] Early texts have Old Italian venenoso, close to the Latin, and the form in ⟨l⟩ appears with Boccaccio.^[2]

The ⟨l⟩ of the noun comes from a dissimilation of n…n to l…n, as in ⟨Bologna⟩ from ⟨Bononia⟩.^[2][5]

The Latin noun first meant a love potion or a brew of magic herbs, and only later “poison”; a Roman legal text still advises adding whether the poison meant is good or bad, since medicines are poisons too.^[2] It goes back to Proto-Italic *wenes-no-, a derivative of venus (“desire, love”).^[8][9][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record, as venenoso, is in Dante (1304–1308) in the sense “that is a poison”; by 1300–1313 Dante also uses it of what contains or gives off poison, as in la venenosa forca that armed a tail “like a scorpion”.^[2][6][10]

Semantic evolution

The form velenoso appears in Boccaccio (1348–1353), who also used it figuratively of hatred and spite.^[2] Before 1320 Crescenzi used it of what does grave moral or spiritual harm.^[2] Sacchetti wrote of a woman who pretended not to notice delle velenose parole (“the venomous words”).^[11]

Muratori wrote of the Inquisitors purging the Lord's vineyard of its erbe velenose (“poisonous weeds”).^[7] Modern usage applies the word to poisonous substances, to animals that make or inject venom, to plants and mushrooms, and figuratively to spiteful words and people.^[6][4][3]

Timeline

• 1304–1308 – Dante uses venenoso “that is a poison”.^[2]
• 1300–1313 – Dante uses venenoso “containing or giving off poison”.^[2]
• Before 1320 – Crescenzi uses it for “morally harmful”.^[2]
• 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses the form velenoso and the sense “full of spite”.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. poisonous, toxic: that is or contains a poison: un gas velenoso.^[6][12][1]
2. Of animals: venomous, able to produce and inject venom.^[6][4]
3. Of plants and mushrooms: able to poison people or animals: bacche velenose.^[6][4]
4. That serves to inject venom: ghiandole velenose.^[6][3]
5. (figurative) Full of rancour and spite; spiteful, sometimes under a polite surface: una battuta velenosa.^[6][12][4]
6. (figurative) Morally harmful, corrupting the mind.^[6][12][11]

Word family

• velenosità
• velenosamente

Related words

• veleno
• avvelenare
• venefico
• Latin venenum

Usage notes

Lingua velenosa is a person given to slander;^[4][11][13] serpe velenosa or serpente velenoso is a false, treacherous person.^[4][11][13]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
12. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
13. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana