venatrix Latin · revision 36745

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=70–19 BC, Virgil|origins=la vēnor}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [weːˈnaː.triːks]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [veˈnaː.triks]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''vēnātrīx''' ''f'' (genitive vēnātrīcis, masculine vēnātor); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|vēnor|-trīx|t1=to hunt]], the feminine counterpart of [[m|la|vēnātor|t=hunter]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Bianchi & Lelli 2014) De Vaan takes [[m|la|vēnor]] as probably a denominative verb from [[itc-pro|*wēn-o/ā-|t=hunting]], and connects it with [[ine-pro|*(H)uēnh₁-|t=desire]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found in Virgil,^(Köbler 2010) in the first book of the ''Aeneid'';^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010) a medieval mythographer quoted by the DMLBS recalls that Virgil there has Venus meet Aeneas in the dress of a huntress maiden.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Ovid uses it attributively of Diana, the huntress goddess (''venatrix dea''),^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) and Juvenal of her as the huntress girl.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) Martial and Valerius Flaccus apply it to hunting dogs.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ Christian writers used it figuratively: Ambrose speaks of a huntress “not of wild beasts, but of lusts”,^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) and Cassiodorus has it in the sense “one who strives for something”.^(Georges 1913) In British Medieval Latin it is found in Aldhelm's riddle on the cat,^(DMLBS) and in the ''Liber Monstrorum'' of women who rear tigers and leopards in place of hunting dogs.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it in the ''Aeneid''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of Diana.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it of a hunting dog.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 340–397 AD – Ambrose uses it figuratively of a pursuer of lusts.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 639–709 AD – Aldhelm uses it in a riddle on the cat.^(DMLBS)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|huntress]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(attributive)'' Hunting: of the goddess [[m|en|Diana]]; of a hunting [[m|en|dog]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+ # ''(figurative)'' One who pursues or strives for something.^(Georges 1913)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[vēnātor]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}