Etymologically
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venalis

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [weːˈnaː.lɪs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [veˈnaː.lis][1]

Forms

vēnālis (neuter vēnāle); third-declension two-termination adjective[1]

Etymology

It is formed from vēnum (“sale”) with the suffix -ālis.[2][1][3] De Vaan traces ⟨vēnum⟩ to Proto-Italic *wesno- and Proto-Indo-European *wes-no- (“price”), cognate with Ancient Greek ὦνος (ônos, “price”) and Sanskrit वस्न (vasná-, “price”); the same noun is in vēneō (“to be sold”), from ⟨vēnum īre⟩, and vendō (“to sell”), from ⟨vēnum dare⟩.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler give Plautus as its first author.[3][4] In the Curculio no one stops a man from buying what is openly for sale, if he has the money.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is for sale, as a house in Plautus and gardens in Cicero, and of persons put up for sale as slaves, so that vēnālēs are slaves in the market.[2][5] Contemptuously it is available for a fee, as a public crier's hired voice (Cicero), and then of favours that can be had by bribery, as Verres' justice in Sicily, and of persons open to bribes, venal.[2]

Church Latin glosses it “for sale, to be sold”.[6] English venal (mid-15th century) meant both purchasable and corruptible.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of things and slaves for sale.[2][3][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of hired voices and corrupt justice.[2][4]
  • mid-15th century – English venal.[7]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. For sale, to be sold, (noun, plural) slaves for sale.[2][1][5]
  2. Available for a fee, hired.[2]
  3. Obtainable by bribery, (of persons) venal, corrupt.[2][1]

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com