Etymologically
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Venus

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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
  • 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