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veneficium

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word veneficium

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (venēnum)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin venenum
Latin venenatus
Latin veneficus
Latin veneficium

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [wɛ.neːˈfɪ.ki.ũː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ve.neˈfiː.t͡ʃi.um][1]

Forms

venēficium n (genitive venēficiī or venēficī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin venēficus (“poisoner, sorcerer”) + -ium.[2][1] venēficus is formed from venēnum (“poison, potion”) and the root of faciō (“to make”).[3][1] De Vaan derives venēnum from Proto-Italic *wenes-no-, a derivative of venus (“desire, love”);[3] Walde and Hofmann took its first meaning to be a love potion, so that the word arose in sorcery.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus.[3][4]

Semantic evolution

It is the use of magic arts, sorcery, and a potent substance such as a love philtre: Cicero tells of an orator who forgot his whole case and blamed it on sorcery and spells, and Pliny the Elder calls the hippomanes a philtre.[2] It is also the act of poisoning, a charge in the Roman courts, as in Cicero's speech for Roscius of Ameria, and a poisonous substance.[2][5] In medieval law codes and in Church Latin it is witchcraft and magic.[4][6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[3][4]
  • 86/82 BC – The Rhetorica ad Herennium of a woman condemned for poisoning.[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of sorcery and of charges of poisoning.[2][5][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Sorcery, witchcraft, magic; a magic potion, philtre.[2][5][6][1]
  2. Poisoning; a poison.[2][5][1]

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e 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 d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Veneficium.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/veneficium. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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