"V" Word Origins

vent

Latin

Partly from Middle French vent ("wind"), from Latin ventus, and partly from French éventer. A doublet of "wind" (the noun).

venthole

Origin

From vent + hole.

venti

Italian

From Italian venti, meaning 'twenty' — the drink measures twenty fluid ounces.

ventilate

Latin

From Latin ventilātus, past participle of ventilāre ("to fan, to expose to air").

ventilation

Origin

Borrowed from Middle French ventilation, from Old French ventilacion, from Late Latin ventilatio, from Latin ventilo. Morphologically ventilate + -ion.

ventilator

Origin

Formed from ventilate plus the agent suffix -or.

ventral

Origin

From French ventral, from Latin ventrālis, from venter (“belly, abdomen”); by surface analysis, ventr- + -al.

ventricle

Latin

From Latin ventriculus ("the belly"), a diminutive of venter ("belly, stomach").

ventricular

New Latin

From New Latin ventricularis, from ventriculus ("ventricle").

ventriculus

Origin

Unadapted borrowing from Latin ventriculus (“the belly”), diminutive of venter (“the belly”). Doublet of ventricle.

ventriloquism

Latin

Formed from ventriloquy plus the suffix -ism, ultimately from Latin roots meaning "to speak from the belly".

ventriloquist

Origin

Formed from ventriloquy plus the agent suffix -ist.

ventrum

Origin

Ultimately from Latin venter (“belly”), with the ending possibly changed by backformation from ventral and/or by analogy to dorsum (“back”).

Ventura

Italian

From Italian, Catalan, Portuguese, and Spanish surname, from a medieval form of Bonaventura, Buenaventura, meaning "good fortune."

venture

Origin

A shortened form of "adventure," worn down over centuries of everyday use.

venturer

Origin

From venture + -er.

venturesome

Origin

From venture + -some.

venu

Sanskrit

From Sanskrit veṇu, meaning bamboo or a flute made from it.

venue

Old French

From Old French venue, "a coming," the feminine form of the verb venir ("to come").

Venus

Latin

From translingual Venus (“a genus of clams”), from Latin.

vera

Origin

From Vera Lynn.

veracious

Origin

From Latin vērāx (“truthful”) + -acious, from vērus (“true”).

veracity

Latin

From Latin verax, "truthful," ultimately from verus, "true."

Veracruz

Spanish

Spanish for "true cross."

veranda

Portuguese

An Indian English word borrowed from Portuguese varanda ("balcony, balustrade"); its deeper origins are debated.

verb

Latin

From Latin verbum, "word," which also gives us "word" itself — the two are distant relatives (a doublet).

verbal

Late Latin

From Late Latin verbalis, "belonging to a word," from verbum ("word").

verbalise

Origin

Partly from Middle French verbaliser and partly from verbal + -ise.

verbalism

Origin

From verbal + -ism.

verbalize

Origin

Partly from Middle French verbaliser and partly from verbal + -ize.

verbatim

Medieval Latin

From Medieval Latin verbatim, "word for word," built from Latin verbum ("word").

verbena

Origin

Borrowed from Latin verbēna (“leaves or twigs of olive, myrtle, laurel, or other sacred plants employed in religious ceremonies”), from Proto-Indo-European *werbʰ-. Doublet of vervain, via French.

verbiage

French

From French verbiage, from Old French verbier 'to chatter', ultimately related to Latin verbum 'word'.

verbose

Origin

From Latin verbōsus (“prolix, wordy, verbose”). Verbōsus is derived from verbum (“word”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *werh₁- (“to say, speak”)) + -ōsus (suffix meaning ‘full of, overly, prone to’ forming adjectives from nouns). Equivalent to verb + -ose.

verbosity

Origin

From Middle French verbosité, from Late Latin verbōsitās. By surface analysis, verbose + -ity.

verdant

Origin

From Middle French verdoyant, from Old French verb verdier, verdoier, from vert (“green”), from Vulgar Latin *virdis, from Latin viridis.

Verde

Origin

Based on the geography of Cape Verde, between or close to both a Canary and a European option.

Verdi

Italian

Borrowed from Italian Verdi.

verdict

Anglo-Norman

From Anglo-Norman verdit, blending words meaning "true" and "saying" — literally "a true statement."

verdigris

Origin

From Middle English vertegrece, verdegres, from Old French verte grez (literally “acidic green”), an alteration of older verte de Grece (literally “green of Greece”). The modern French writing of this word is vert-de-gris (literally “green of gray”).

verdun

French

Named after the French town of Verdun, historically associated with sword-making.

verdure

Origin

Inherited from Middle English verdure, from Middle French verdure, from Old French verdure, from Late Latin *viridūra, from viridis (“green”) + -ūra (abstract noun-forming suffix).

verdurous

Origin

Originated c. 1595–1605, verdure + -ous, ultimately from verd (“green”), from Latin viridis.

verge

Latin

From Old French verge, "rod or wand of office," from Latin virga ("rod, shoot"); the "edge/limit" sense grew out of the idea of a boundary marked by a ceremonial rod.

verger

Origin

From "verge" (the ceremonial rod carried as a badge of office) plus the agent suffix "-er."

veridical

Origin

From Latin veridicus (“truly said”), from verus (“true”) and dīcō (“to say”).

verification

Medieval Latin

From Medieval Latin verificatio, built from verus ("true") and facere ("to make").

verify

Medieval Latin

From Old French verifier, from Medieval Latin verificare, "to make true" (verus + facere).