The story
- Proto-Indo-European · derived from*wenh₁-“to love”
- Classical Latin · derived fromvenēnum“drug; poison; a charm”
- Early Medieval Latin · derived fromvenīnum
- Vulgar Latin · derived from*venīmen
- Old French · derived fromvenim
- Middle English · inherited fromvenym
- English todayvenom
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.
Words from the same roots
Proto-Indo-European*wenh₁- all →
wishwinwonweenweanvenerealwinnewontedwone
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.