Etymologically
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venefica

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [wɛˈneː.fɪ.ka][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [veˈnɛː.fi.ka][1]

Forms

venēfica f (genitive venēficae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is the feminine of venēficus (“poisoning; magical; a poisoner, sorcerer”), used as a noun.[1][2] venēficus is formed from venēnum (“drug, poison”) and -ficus, from faciō (“to make”).[3][4] De Vaan derives ⟨venēnum⟩ from Proto-Italic *wenes-no-, built on venus (“desire, love”);[5] Walde and Hofmann thought it first meant a love potion, which would place it in sorcery.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Plautus,[4] who uses it as a term of abuse in the Persa.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is a sorceress or witch:[3][2] Horace has a man walking free from the spell of a more skilled witch, Ovid uses it of the Aeaean witch and of Medea, and Juvenal speaks of what a single witch costs.[3][2] It is also a female poisoner, as in Quintilian's case of a poisoner to be punished with death.[3] Plautus and Terence use it as a term of abuse, and Antony, quoted in Cicero's Philippics, applies it contemptuously to a man.[2][3] Wiktionary gives sorceress, witch and female poisoner.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, as a term of abuse.[2][4]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence, as a term of abuse.[2][4]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace, of a skilled witch.[3][2][4]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid, of the Aeaean witch and of Medea.[3][2][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A sorceress, witch.[3][2][1]
  2. A female poisoner.[3][1]
  3. A term of abuse.[2][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill