## Etymology
From Old French 'venim, venin', from Vulgar Latin '*venimen', from Latin 'venenum' ('poison, drug, potion'), perhaps originally 'love potion', related to 'venus' ('love, desire').

## AI Etymology
Venom comes from Old French 'venim, venin', from Vulgar Latin '*venimen', from Latin 'venenum' ('poison, drug, potion'), perhaps originally 'love potion', related to 'venus' ('love, desire'). In current use it is a noun meaning "poisonous fluid secreted by some animals; bitter malice". That sense is explained by the older material without requiring a speculative semantic step: the inherited or borrowed base supplies the field of meaning, while the English formation fixes its modern role. The uncertainty belongs to the etymology itself and should be kept: the older ancestry is not presented as more secure than it is. The historical chain includes Old French venim and Latin venenum. Related English forms include venene. A derived form is venomous. The safest dictionary treatment is to keep the secure forms and the uncertainty together, since the doubtful step is part of the word's history rather than a gap to fill by guesswork.

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