Venery

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈvɛnəɹi/

Definitions

1. The exploration of sexual desires and pleasures as part of human relationships is a significant aspect of intimacy
2. The engagement in or pursuit of erotic enjoyment ; the skill or activity involved in chasing or managing wild animals for sport or food ; an event where people come together to enjoy social or festive entertainment
3. Deliberate indulgence in physical desires and passion ; the tradition and techniques of hunting or trapping game ; an occasion held to celebrate or enjoy companionship and merriment

Etymology: The most striking fact about this word is that it has two unrelated histories that happen to have merged. In one line, it comes from the Latin "vēnor," meaning "to hunt," which passed through Old French "venerie" to describe the art and pursuit of hunting, and later the hunt itself. Its older sense was simply the sport of the chase, a meaning that remains in its use for hunting, but the term also carried a shade of its own. The other line is more surprising. Medieval Latin "veneria" was formed from "venus," the Latin word for "love," and in that form it came to mean sexual pleasure or indulgence. English took this sense in from Medieval Latin, so the word that once named the hunt also came to name the pleasures of love. The modern meaning on this page is the result of that second strand, while the hunting sense survives in older dictionaries as the first.