Etymologically
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venatio

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [weːˈnaː.ti.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [veˈnat.t͡si.o][1]

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]

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