venereal
/vəˈnɪ.ɹi.əl/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.52 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
4
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Of or relating to the genitals or sexual intercourse.
adj
Of a disease: sexually transmitted; of or relating to, or adapted to the cure of, a venereal disease.
Example Sentences
- "Wouldſt thou not haue ſome Bulchin from the herd / To phyſicke thee of this venereall itch?"
- "[B]ecauſe ſuch hot temperaments are prone to Venerie, hence the Poets feigned, that Mars lay with Venus; and withall to ſhew, how much ſouldiers are given to Venereall luſts; [...]"
- "Then ſwoll'n with pride into the ſnare I fell / Of fair, fallacious looks, venereal trains, / Softn'd with pleaſure and voluptuous life; [...]"
- "And so, while husbands are worshiping at their boyhood shrines, being the lawyers, merchants, or masterminds their parents wanted them to be, their wives, even after fourteen years of marriage and two fine children produced and raised, are still on the search for love - which can come to them only from the centaurs, sileni, satyrs, and other concupiscent incubi of the rout of Pan [...] as in our popular, vanilla-frosted temples of the venereal goddess, under the make-up of the latest heroes of the screen."
- "a venereal medicine"
- "[...] I like not his countenance; I am afraid he labours of the venereall murre."
Etymology
From Middle English venereal, venerealle (“of or relating to sexual intercourse”), from Latin venereus, venerius (“of or relating to sexual love”), from Venus (“Roman goddess of love”) (from Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁- (“to love”)) + -eus, -ius (suffix forming adjectives from nouns).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *wenh₁-, venereal, venereus
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /vəˈnɪ.ɹi.əl/
- British English: /vəˈnɪə.ɹɪ.əl/