vent English · revision 39569

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /vɛnt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ {{homograph|1|opening; let out}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1382, Wycliffe Bible (the verbal noun venting)|origins=la ventus}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The verb is [[inh|enm|venten]],^(MWU 2024)^(Barnhart 1988) probably a shortening of [[m|enm|aventen]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) [[bor|fro|aventer]], a variant of [[m|fro|esventer|t=to let out, expose to the air]],^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[la-vul|*exventō|t=to let out air]], formed from [[m|la|ex-|t=out]] and [[m|la|ventus|t=wind]].^(Ayto 2005)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Etymonline traces the Latin noun to [[ine-pro|*h₂weh₁-|t=to blow]], and Ayto notes that it is distantly related to [[wind]].^(Etymonline)^(Ayto 2005) The noun comes partly from [[m|fr|vent|t=wind]] and partly from [[m|fr|évent]] (Old French [[m|fro|esvent]]), a noun formed on that verb,^(OED 2026)^(Klein 1966)^(AHD 2024) and partly from the English verb itself.^(Dictionary.com 2016) Etymonline adds that it may have merged with the garment word below.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Letting something out from a confined space, or giving it an outlet: before 1382, in the verbal noun ''venting'' in the Wycliffe Bible.^(Barnhart 1988) The OED's first example, of giving a wine cask an air hole, is from John Trevisa's translation of Bartholomaeus Anglicus (1398).^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The noun was at first commonly used of the anus,^(Etymonline) a sense that survives for the cloaca of birds, fish and reptiles;^(SOED 2002)^(Collins 2023) the general sense, an opening through which air, smoke or liquid escapes, is also late Middle English.^(SOED 2002) The figurative use belongs to Shakespeare's time: Barnhart dates the sense “to express freely” to ''The Taming of the Shrew'' (1596),^(Barnhart 1988) and the OED records giving vent to an emotion from 1602, in John Marston's ''Antonio's Revenge'';^(OED 2026) Etymonline links the sense “to divulge, publish” (1590s) to the phrase ''vent one's spleen''.^(Etymonline) The figurative phrase ''give vent to'' follows by 1640, in Philip Massinger.^(OED 2026) Gunners used ''vent'' for the touch-hole of a gun^(Collins 2023) and for windage (1647),^(OED 2026) and hunters for the surfacing of an otter or beaver to breathe (mid-17th century).^(SOED 2002)^(Hoad 1986) In geology it is the opening through which a volcano erupts,^(Collins 2023)^(SOED 2002) and in Scotland a ''vent'' is a chimney, as in J. M. Barrie's ''Thrums'' (1889).^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1382 – the verbal noun ''venting''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1398 – to give a cask a vent.^(OED 2026)

+ * c. 1400 – noun: a small opening, in Etymonline's dating.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1507 – noun: emission or discharge.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1558 – noun: escape, outlet.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1596 – to express freely.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1602 – to give vent to an emotion.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1640 – figurative ''give vent to''.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1647 – the windage of a gun.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An [[opening]] through which [[air]], [[smoke]], gas or liquid can escape or pass.^(AHD 2024)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(geology)'' The opening in the earth's crust through which a [[volcano]] erupts; also an opening on the ocean floor that releases hot, mineral-rich water.^(AHD 2024)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(zoology)'' The excretory opening of a bird, fish, reptile or amphibian.^(AHD 2024)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The small hole at the breech of an old gun through which the charge was fired.^(AHD 2024)^(Collins 2023)

+ # An [[outlet]] for pent-up feeling, chiefly in ''give vent to'': ''He gave vent to his frustration in a long letter.''^(AHD 2024)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[express]] a strong feeling openly, often forcefully: ''She vented her anger on the referee.''^(AHD 2024)^(MWU 2024)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To let out steam, gas or the like through an opening.^(AHD 2024)^(MWU 2024)

+ # To provide with a vent.^(AHD 2024)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ventless]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|slit in a garment}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1430, Pilgrimage of the Life of Manhood|origins=la findō}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|vente]], an alteration of [[m|enm|fente]], [[bor|fro|fente|t=slit, cleft]], from [[m|fro|fendre|t=to split]], from [[la|findō|t=to cleave, split]].^(MWU 2024)^(AHD 2024)^(Klein 1966)^(ODE 2010) The initial ''v-'' is probably due to [[m|fr|vent|t=wind]].^(MWU 2024)^(AHD 2024)^(Klein 1966) Etymonline traces the Latin verb to [[ine-pro|*bʰeyd-|t=to split]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A slit in a garment: about 1430, in the ''Pilgrimage of the Life of Manhood'';^(OED 2026) Merriam-Webster dates it to the 15th century.^(MWU 2024) From 1429 to 1604 the word also meant an opening in a battlement, a crenel.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Today the word is used above all of the opening at the bottom of the back seam of a coat or jacket, or of a skirt or sleeve.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002) A verb ''vent'', to trim the slits of a garment, is recorded in 1547 and is now obsolete.^(OED 2026) The older form ''fent'' and this sense lived on in dialect: in Yorkshire, Lancashire and Somerset a ''vent'' was the opening at the wrist of a shirt, and a ''vent-hole'' its buttonhole.^(Wright 1898) Johnson (1755) derived even the general noun ''vent'', a small aperture, from [[m|fr|fente]].^(Johnson 1755)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1429 – an opening in a battlement (obsolete by 1604).^(OED 2026)

+ * c. 1430 – a slit in a garment.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1547 – verb: to trim the slits of a garment (obsolete).^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[slit]] in a garment, especially at the bottom of the back [[seam]] of a jacket, coat or skirt.^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)^(AHD 2024)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ventilate]]

+ * [[wind]]

+ * [[fission]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The AHD sets ''vent'' among verbs for letting thoughts or feelings out: to ''vent'' is to unburden oneself of a strong emotion that has been held in, while ''express'' covers any communication, in words or not, ''utter'' stresses the voice, ''voice'' the putting of a view (often a group's) into words, and ''air'' the showing of one's opinions, often to show them off.^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}