venom

C2+ Topic:Animals

US /ˈvɛnəm/ UK /ˈvɛnəm/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
poisonous fluid secreted by some animals; bitter malice

She spoke of her rival with undisguised venom.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · poisonous fluid secreted by... poison toxin spite malicerancorvirulence

Opposites

antidote benevolence kindness

Word family

Derived forms venomous

Related forms venene

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').

venim Old French venenum Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Animals

External links

# venom

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈvɛnəm/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈvɛnəm/

## Meanings
1. poisonous fluid secreted by some animals; bitter malice

## Examples
- She spoke of her rival with undisguised venom.

## Synonyms
- poison
- toxin
- spite
- malice
- rancor
- virulence

## Antonyms
- antidote
- benevolence
- kindness

## Derived Forms
- venomous

## Related Forms
- venene

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: venim
- Root: venenum

## 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.

## Topics
- Animals

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