vena

Forms

vena f (plural vene)^[1] The old plural was veni.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin vēna, a word for any conduit, of water or of metal, and in particular a vein or artery and anything that looks like one, in wood or marble.^[2][5][6][1] It is panromance: French veine, Occitan vena, Catalan vena, Spanish vena, Portuguese veia, Sardinian èna and Romanian venă.^[5][7] The DÉRom reconstructs a Proto-Romance noun for a thread-like conduit, especially a vein, from the cognates of every Romance language.^[8]

The Latin word has no agreed etymology.^{[2][5][9][10]} De Vaan thinks of a Proto-Italic noun from a PIE adjective meaning “of blood”, beside Avestan words for blood.^[10][1] Other proposals derive it from Proto-Indo-European *h₂weh₁- (“to blow”), since veins were compared to air pipes, or from Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ- (“to convey”).^[10][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first records are in the Fiore (late 13th or early 14th century) and in Dante (1300–1313), in the anatomical sense of a blood vessel.^[2] In the first canto of the Inferno the she-wolf makes Dante's veins and pulse tremble: Ch'ella mi fa tremar le vene e i polsi.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Early in the 14th century the word was also used of an underground channel of water (Dante) and of a lode of ore (Petrarch, the Italian Seneca); the veining of stone followed before 1367 (Fazio degli Uberti).^[2] In 1374 Petrarch used it figuratively for creative flair, already a Latin sense, and in the 15th century the Novella del Grasso legnaiuolo for a frame of mind; the sense “trace, hint” is recorded only in 1891.^[2]

From the frame of mind comes essere in vena “to be in the mood”.^[2][6] DELI rejects the view that the phrase came from doctors finding a patient's pulse in buona vena, and derives it from essere in vena “to be inspired”.^[2] Venato (1550, Vasari) and venatura (18th century) name the streaks in wood and stone.^[2][5]

Timeline

• Late 13th or early 14th century – The Fiore uses vena.^[2]
• 1300–1313 – Dante writes Ch'ella mi fa tremar le vene e i polsi.^[2]
• 1313–1319 – Dante uses vena for an underground channel of water.^[2]
• 14th century – Petrarch and the Italian Seneca use it for a lode of ore.^[2]
• Before 1367 – Fazio degli Uberti uses it for veining.^[2]
• 1374 – Petrarch uses it for poetic inspiration.^[2]
• 1550 – Vasari uses venato “veined”.^[2]
• 1891 – The sense “trace, hint” is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (anatomy) A vein: a blood vessel that carries blood from the body to the heart.^[6][3][11]
2. Any blood vessel: Gli si gonfiavano le vene del collo per la rabbia.^[6][3][12]
3. (figurative, literary) Blood.^[6][3][13]
4. A streak or venatura in wood, marble or stone; in botany a nerve of a leaf, in zoology a rib of an insect's wing.^[6][3][14]
5. An underground channel of water; a spring.^[6][3][11]
6. (geology) A lode or seam of ore: una vena di ferro.^[6][11][13]
7. (figurative) A trace or hint: Nella sua lettera si sentiva una vena di tristezza.^[6][3][11]
8. (figurative) A good disposition or mood for doing something.^[6][1]
9. (figurative) Creative inspiration, flair, talent.^[6][11][13]

Word family

• venare
• venato
• venatura
• venoso
• venula
• svenare
• svenamento
• endovena

Related words

• Latin vena
• French veine

Usage notes

Set phrases include essere in vena (to be in the mood), tagliarsi le vene (to cut one's wrists) and non avere sangue nelle vene (to lack spirit, or to be paralysed with fear); trovare una vena d'oro is to find an easy source of profit.^[6][3][15]

An older vena “oats” is avena with the first syllable dropped, recorded from about 1320 in the Italian Crescenzi and now obsolete or regional.^{[6][16][17][11]}

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r 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 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
4. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ Buchi, Éva; Schweickard, Wolfgang, eds. (2008–), Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman (DÉRom), Nancy: ATILF, http://www.atilf.fr/DERom
9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
12. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
13. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
15. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
16. ^ Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 3, 2627
17. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 21, 724