Etymograph

English

venenate

Venenate comes from Latin venenatus ‘venomous, 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 CEvenenum2‘poison, venom’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvenenare2‘to poison’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvenenatus2‘venomous, poisonous’past participle of venenare
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1673venenate2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin venenum
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English venenate
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1673, Gideon Harvey: “assume a venene nature , which expiring infecd and…”.

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 CEvenenumWiktionary, English venenate‘poison, venom’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvenenareWiktionary, English venenate‘to poison’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvenenatusWiktionary, English venenate‘venomous, poisonous’past participle of venenare
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1673venenateWiktionary, English venenate. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1673, Gideon Harvey: “assume a venene nature , which expiring infecd and…”

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 venenum ‘poison, venom’

venom, 9 more

Today it means

verb To poison; to infect with poison.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “venenate”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin venenum. 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- / venenate

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