venaticus

Forms

vēnāticus (feminine vēnātica, neuter vēnāticum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin vēnor (“to hunt”) + -āticus according to the OLD;^[2] Wiktionary derives it instead from vēnātus (“hunting, the chase”), the noun of that verb, with the suffix -icus.^[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Plautus,^[4][5] in the phrase canis vēnāticus, a hunting dog.^[6][3]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it was used mainly of dogs: Varro, Cicero and Horace speak of hunting dogs and hounds' whelps.^[6][3][2] Plautus plays on it in a line spoken by a parasite: prōlātīs rēbus parasītī vēnāticī sumus, “when business is adjourned, we parasites are hunting dogs”.^[6][7]

In Medieval Latin it served for everything connected with hunting: game meat (carō vēnātica), hunting as an art (the feminine used as a noun), and a hunting dog (the masculine used as a noun).^[8] As a noun it also named a due paid for the right to hunt.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus speaks of hunting dogs and of parasites as hounds.^[6][5]
• 116–27 BC – Varro describes a breed of hunting dogs.^[6][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero mentions hunting dogs in the speeches against Verres.^[6][7][5]
• 65–8 BC – Horace speaks of a young hound (catulus vēnāticus).^[6][5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or used in hunting;^[2][6] (of dogs) hunting.^[2][6]
2. (figurative) On the hunt, in search of something.^[6][7]
3. (Medieval Latin) Of game: carō vēnātica, game meat.^[8]

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin) A hunting dog.^[8]
2. (Medieval Latin, feminine) Hunting as an art or pursuit.^[8]
3. (Medieval Latin) A due paid for the right to hunt.^[9]

Related words

• vēnātus
• vēnātor

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b c d Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill