Etymologically
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venenatus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [wɛ.neːˈnaː.tʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ve.neˈnaː.tus][1]

Forms

venēnātus (feminine venēnāta, neuter venēnātum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin venēnum (“poison”) + -ātus;[2] Lewis & Short treat it as the participle of venēnō (“to poison”).[3] De Vaan traces venēnum to Proto-Italic *wenes-no-, a derivative of venus (“desire, love”);[4] Walde–Hofmann took its first meaning to be “love potion”.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from the Rhetorica ad Herennium.[5] Lucretius has venomous snakes, venenatis colubris.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is said of animals and plants furnished with poison, venomous or poisonous, and as a neuter noun a venomous creature.[2] Vitruvius uses it of the deadly power of some waters.[2] Of weapons and bait it means poisoned: Cicero has panthers caught with poisoned meat.[2] Ovid uses it of magic, a wand with magical power.[2] Church Latin keeps the sense venomous, poisonous.[6]

Timeline

  • 86/82 BC – The Rhetorica ad Herennium.[5]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius, of venomous snakes.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, of poisoned meat.[2][5]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid, of a magic wand.[2][5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Venomous, poisonous;[2][1] as a noun, a venomous creature.[2]
  2. Poisoned.[2][1]
  3. Having magical power, enchanted.[2][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson