Venus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈwɛ.nʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈvɛː.nus]^[1]

Forms

Venus f (genitive Veneris); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is the noun venus (“love, charm”) used as a name.^[2][3][1] That noun is inherited from Proto-Italic *wenos-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *wénh₁-os (“desire”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁- (“to wish, love”).^[2][1] The OLD calls the goddess a feminization of the neuter noun, which survives in venerārī.^[3] Cognate with Sanskrit वनस् (vánas, “loveliness, desire”).^[1] venia “favour, pardon” and vēnor “to hunt” are from the same root.^[2] The dative Oscan ϝενζηι (venzēi) is a borrowing from Latin.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Naevius, and an inscription has a nominative Venos.^[2][3] Köbler dates Naevius c. 235–200 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Venus was a goddess of Italian origin whom the Romans identified with Aphrodite, so goddess of sexual love and generation, and mother of Aeneas.^[3][5] Her name was given to the planet Venus, stella Veneris, and to the best throw at dice, when each of the four knucklebones showed a different face.^[3] As a common noun venus meant the quality that attracts love, charm, as Plautus' house that smells of pure Venus, sexual love and its act, and a beloved person.^[3][6] The adjective venustus “charming” and the noun venustās “charm” are from it.^[2]

English Venus came in late Old English, and the planet was named so from about 1300.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it.^[2][4]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of charm.^[3][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero names the planet Venus.^[3][4]
• late Old English – Borrowed into English as Venus.^[6]

Meanings

Proper noun

1. Venus, goddess of love, identified with Aphrodite.^[3]
2. The planet Venus.^[3]
3. (lowercase) Charm, attractiveness; sexual love; a loved one.^[3]

Word family

• venerius

Related words

• venia
• vēnor
• veneror
• venustus
• English venereal
• English venerate

Usage notes

It is unrelated to vēnus, vēnum “sale”, found only in vēnum dare “to put up for sale” and vēnum īre, the sources of vendō and vēneō.^[2][3]

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 de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com