venatio

Forms

vēnātiō f (genitive vēnātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin vēnor (“to hunt”) + -tiō.^[2][1][3] De Vaan takes vēnor as probably a verb made from an adjective ⟨*wēno-⟩ “searching, hunting” or a noun Proto-Italic *wēnā- (“hunting”), going back to Proto-Indo-European *(H)uēnh₁- (“desire”);^[4] he compares Sanskrit वनते (vánate, “to love, desire”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It appears in Cicero and Varro.^[2][4][3] Cicero's Cato Maior says that fowling and hunting make a farm's table richer, and Varro describes herds of dormice, boars and other game.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Besides the hunting of wild animals, it is the game itself, the animals caught.^[2] In Rome it was also a beast hunt staged as a show in the circus or arena: Varro speaks of such hunts held by the aediles, and Seneca of sending someone gladiators or a venatio after the show is over.^[2][5] Caesar says the Suebi spend much time in hunting.^[5] Church Latin keeps hunting and game, and also venison.^[6] In medieval documents it is the right to hunt, the due paid for that right, and also a fishery.^[7] Through Old French it gave English venison, first recorded about 1300.^[8]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero, of hunting as a pleasure of country life.^[2][3]
• 116–27 BC – Varro, of game and of beast hunts in the circus.^[2][3]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar, of the Suebi's hunting.^[5][3]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca, of the animals of an arena hunt.^[2][3]
• Medieval Latin – The right to hunt; a due for it; a fishery.^[7]
• c. 1300 – English venison, through Old French.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. Hunting, the chase; a hunt.^[2][5][1]
2. Animals hunted, game.^[2][6]
3. A wild-beast hunt staged as a show in the circus or arena; the animals of such a show.^[2][5]
4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) venison.^[6]
5. (Medieval Latin) The right to hunt; a due paid for it; a fishery.^[7]

Related words

• vēnor
• vēnātor
• vēnātus
• vēnābulum
• vēnāticus
• English venison

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com