Etymologically
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ventus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈwɛn.tʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈvɛn.tus][1]

Forms

ventus m (genitive ventī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *wē̆nto-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ueh₁-nt-o- (“wind”), from the present participle of Proto-Indo-European *h₂weh₁- (“to blow”).[2][1] The short /e/ shows Osthoff's shortening.[2][1] Cognate with Welsh gwynt (“wind”), Hittite ḫuwant- (“wind”), Sanskrit वात (vā́ta, “wind”), Old High German wint (“wind”) and English wind.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Ennius uses it, and Plautus has a wind that took the roof off a farmhouse.[3][2] Köbler dates Ennius 204–169 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it was a wind, as Cicero's ventus Āfricus, a wind favouring or hindering a voyage, as Plautus' “carried by a fair wind on a calm sea”, and the wind that scatters things.[3][5] It was a draught or puff of air.[3] Döderlein calls it the general word for wind, against procella, a squall, and tempestās, a storm.[6]

In medieval Latin it was also one's last breath.[7] Its diminutive gave ventilāre “to fan, winnow”, the source of English ventilate.[8] All the Romance languages kept it, as Italian vento, French vent, Spanish viento and Romanian vânt.[9][1]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it.[3][4]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a fair wind.[3][4]
  • early 15th century – English ventilate is recorded.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Wind.[3][10]
  2. A favourable or contrary wind (for a voyage).[3]
  3. A draught, breeze.[3]
  4. (Medieval Latin) One's last breath.[7]

Usage notes

A fourth-declension homograph ventus “a coming, arrival”, from veniō, is used by Varro.[3][5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ Buchi, Éva; Schweickard, Wolfgang, eds. (2008–), Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman (DÉRom), Nancy: ATILF, http://www.atilf.fr/DERom
  10. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press