venter Latin · revision 5671

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=inherited|attested=Plautus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈwɛn.tɛr]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈvɛn.ter]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''venter''' ''m'' (genitive ventris); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It may go back to *wentri- or *wendri-, [[ine-pro|*(H)wed-ro-|t=belonging to the belly]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Hamp suggested it is the same word as [[uterus]] “womb”, from [[ine-pro|*(H)u(e)d-ér-o-|t=belly]], with a nasal taken from [[vēsīca]] “bladder”, which de Vaan finds uncertain.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) Wiktionary compares [[goh|wanast|t=belly]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus, who draws a sigh from the bottom of the belly.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was the belly, the abdomen, and the belly as the receptacle of food, the stomach, as Ennius' Cyclops with his belly stuffed with human flesh and Plautus' ''ventrī operam dare'' “to attend to one's belly”.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) It was the bowels, and the womb or the unborn child, as Varro's donkey worn out by bearing.^(OLD 2012) By transfer it was any bulge, as a wall that bellies out, and the low part of a water pipe crossing a valley.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ Isidore distinguishes ''venter'', which digests food, from ''alvus'' and ''uterus''.^(Isidore) Late Latin ''ventrālis'' gave [[en|ventral]] in 1739, and ''ventriloquus'' “belly-speaker” gave [[en|ventriloquist]] in the 1650s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus draws a sigh from the belly.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius speaks of the Cyclops' belly.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of the womb.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1650s – English ''ventriloquist'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1739 – English ''ventral'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|belly]], [[m|en|abdomen]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # The stomach; appetite, gluttony.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+ # The bowels.^(OLD 2012)

+ # The womb; an unborn child.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A bulge, swelling.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[curtiventris]]

+ * [[subventrālis]]

+ * [[subventrīle]]

+ * [[ventrālis]]

+ * [[ventricola]]

+ * [[ventriculātiō]]

+ * [[ventriculōsus]]

+ * [[ventricultor]]

+ * [[ventriculus]]

+ * [[ventrifluus]]

+ * [[ventriloquus]]

+ * [[ventriōsus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[uterus]]

+ * [[alvus]]

+ * [[en|ventral]]

+ * [[en|ventriloquist]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Isidore distinguishes ''venter'' (which digests food), ''alvus'' (which receives and is purged) and ''uterus'' (the womb).^(Isidore)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}