vena Latin · revision 30738

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=inherited|attested=234–149 BC, Cato|origins=ine-pro *ues-no-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈweː.na]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈvɛː.na]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''vēna''' ''f'' (genitive vēnae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ There is no agreed etymology.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) De Vaan sets up [[itc-pro|*wes-no/ā-|t=blood-vessel]] and [[ine-pro|*ues-no-|t=of blood]], connecting it with [[ae|vohuna-|t=blood]] and perhaps [[sa|वसा|tr=vásā|t=fat, lard]].^(de Vaan 2008) He also reports Muller's idea, based on Cato's description of the veins as air pipes, of a derivation from [[m|ine-pro|*h₂u̯eh₁-|t=to blow]], and roots meaning “to convey” such as ⟨*uedʰ-⟩ or ⟨*ueǵʰ-⟩, which leave unclear why a blood vessel would be named the conveyor.^(de Vaan 2008) Lewis & Short similarly thought of the root of [[m|la|vehō|t=to carry]], “a pipe, channel”, and Köbler gives ⟨*ueis-⟩ “to flow” (Pokorny 1134).^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Cato, ''De agri cultura'', says that when the veins are puffed up by food they cannot breathe through the whole body.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) Accius, in a tragedy, speaks of veins of the vitals steeped in a viper's poison.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Vēna'' is any blood vessel, vein or artery, in humans and animals;^(OLD 2012) Cicero distinguishes the veins, which carry blood, from the arteries, which carry breath, and ''vēna cava'' is the great trunk vein.^(OLD 2012) It is used of other ducts such as the ureter (Celsus), of the penis, and of the pulse that doctors feel (Cicero).^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) By likeness it is a channel of sap and the vein of a leaf, the grain of timber, a streak in stone, a fissure in rock, an underground stream feeding a larger water, an irrigation trench, and a vein of ore: Cicero praises the human skill that finds veins of copper, silver and gold deep in the earth.^(OLD 2012) Figuratively it is a store of talent (Horace: ''ingenī benigna vēna'') and a particular strain of genius (Juvenal).^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Church Latin glosses it “vein, inclination”;^(Stelten 1995) in medieval Latin it is also a river bed.^(Niermeyer 1976) English ''vein'' (c. 1300) came through Old French, and medical Latin kept ''vēna'' in names such as ''vena cava''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato of veins puffed up by food.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 170–c. 90 BC – Accius of poisoned veins.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of veins and arteries, the pulse and veins of ore.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace of a vein of talent.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 1300 – English [[m|en|vein]], through Old French.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A blood vessel, [[m|en|vein]] or [[m|en|artery]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # Another duct of the body; the [[m|en|pulse]];^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) ''(vulgar)'' the penis.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A vein in a leaf, the grain of wood, a streak in stone.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A fissure in rock; an underground stream, a watercourse; an irrigation channel.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A vein of [[m|en|ore]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A store of talent; a particular bent, genius; inclination.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A river bed.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[vēnātilis]]

+ * [[vēnōsus]]

+ * [[vēnula]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|vein]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}