Venturousness

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The trait of demonstrating a bold spirit that embraces risk-taking alongside a desire for exploration and new experiences
2. A disposition marked by a readiness to venture into the unknown, characterized by both courage and curiosity
3. The quality of being inclined to face danger or uncertainty ; the enthusiasm to seek out new and unfamiliar adventures

Etymology: Venturousness is a plain formation: the adjective "venturous" with the suffix "-ness" added to turn a quality into a noun. The adjective itself is built on "venture," which entered English from Anglo-Norman and Middle English as a shortened form of "adventure," meaning a chance or hazard. The suffix "-ness" is an old native English element, descending from Old English "-nes," that has long been attached to adjectives to name a state or quality, so the word means simply "the state of being venturous." The adjective "venturous" grew in the same way, from "venture" plus the suffix "-ous," which came into English through Old French from Latin "-osus," meaning full of or given to. Its ancestry runs back through Latin and deeper still into the Indo-European roots that gave the sense of advancing toward something uncertain.

Synonyms: adventurousness, risk-taking, boldness, daring, courage

Antonyms: caution, timidity, cowardice, fearfulness, hesitancy