Etymograph

English

venefical

Venefical comes from Latin veneficus ‘poisonous’, from Proto-Italic *weneznom ‘lust, desire’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁- ‘to strive, wish, love’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wenh₁-1‘to strive, wish, love’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*weneznom1‘lust, desire’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvenēnum2‘poison”’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEveneficus3‘poisonous’
  5. Englishtodayvenefical3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin venenum
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin veneficus
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English venefical

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wenh₁-Wiktionary, Latin venenum‘to strive, wish, love’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*weneznomWiktionary, Latin venenum‘lust, desire’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvenēnumWiktionary, Latin veneficus‘poison”’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEveneficusWiktionary, English venefical‘poisonous’
  5. EnglishtodayveneficalWiktionary, English venefical

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁- ‘to strive, wish, love’

win, won, wish, wonder, wont, wen, wynn, venerable, wean, winsome, ween, venereal, venerate, 16 more

through Proto-Italic *weneznom ‘lust, desire’

venomous, 8 more

through Latin venēnum ‘poison”’

venom, 9 more

Today it means

adj —

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “venefical”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin venenum, Latin veneficus. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁- / venefical

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