venom
/ˈvɛnəm/ noun, verb, adjective
Forms venoms venoming venomed
- noun An animal toxin intended for defensive or offensive use; a biological poison delivered by bite, sting, etc., to protect an animal or to kill its prey.
- noun (figuratively) Feeling or speech marked by spite or malice; vitriol.
- verb (transitive, obsolete) To infect with venom; to envenom; to poison.
- adjective (obsolete) Poisonous, poisoned; (figuratively) pernicious.
Synonyms
venene venin atter zootoxin malice maliciousness spite spitefulness
Etymology
From Middle English venym, from Old French venim, from Vulgar Latin *venīmen, from Early Medieval Latin venīnum, from Classical Latin venēnum (“drug; poison; a charm”), ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁- (“to love”). Doublet of venin and venene.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Matter fatal or injurious to life; poison; particularly, the poisonous, the poisonous matter which certain animals, such as serpents, scorpions, bees, etc., secrete in a state of health, and communicate by thing or stinging.
- noun Spite; malice; malignity; evil quality. Chaucer. "The venom of such looks." Shak.
- verb To infect with venom; to envenom; to poison. [R.] "Venomed vengeance." Shak.
Etymology [OE. venim, OF. venim, F. venin, L. veneum. Cf. Venenate.]
Etymology [OE. venimen, OF. venimer, L. venenare. See Venom, n.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “venom”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details