venisoun (Middle English)
Where does "venisoun" come from?
The Middle English word 'venisoun' arrived into the language borrowed from Anglo-Norman 'veneisun'[1]. This term traces its lineage back to the Latin 'vēnātiōnem', which is the accusative case of the Latin noun 'vēnātiō'[1]. This Latin root was itself formed from the verb 'vēnor' combined with the suffix '-tiō'[2]. Historically, the term denoted one's quarry or the animal being hunted, before narrowing its application to the meat of such game[1].
Open questions
- The derivation of the Latin 'vēnātiō' from 'vēnor' plus the suffix '-tiō' is a standard morphological analysis of the root. [2]
Full etymology tree
- venisoun (Middle English), 'One's quarry or prey; the animal that one is hunting, especially deer.'
- borrowed veneisun (Anglo-Norman)
- inherited venationem (Latin), 'accusative singular of vēnātiō'
- inherited venatio (Latin), 'hunting, the chase, venery'
- derived venor (Latin), 'to chase, hunt, pursue game/quarry'
- suffix -tio (Latin), '-tion, -ation, -ing; suffixed to verbs to form action nouns denoting a process, action, or result of an action.'
- inherited venatio (Latin), 'hunting, the chase, venery'
- inherited venationem (Latin), 'accusative singular of vēnātiō'
- borrowed veneisun (Anglo-Norman)
Ancestors
- venationem (Latin)
Descendants and derived words
- venison (English)
- vengence (Yola)
Sources
Updated August 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris