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Origin and history of venial

venial(adj.)

c. 1300, of sins, "minor, pardonable, that may be forgiven," from Old French venial "pardonable, excusable" (13c.) and directly from Late Latin venialis "pardonable," from Latin venia "forgiveness, indulgence, pardon, favor" (from PIE *wen-ya- "sexual love, desire," suffixed form of root *wen- (1) "to desire, strive for"). The general sense in reference to errors, faults, "that may be excused or overlooked," is by 1580s. Related: Venially; veniality.

also from c. 1300

Entries linking to venial

*wen-(1)

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to desire, strive for."

It might form all or part of: vanadium; Vanir; venerate; veneration; venerable; venereal; venery (n.1) "pursuit of sexual pleasure;" venery (n.2) "hunting, the sports of the chase;" venial; venison; venom; Venus; wean; ween; Wend "Slavic people of eastern Germany;" win; winsome; wish; wont; wynn.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit veti "follows after," vanas- "desire," vanati "desires, loves, wins;" Avestan vanaiti "he wishes, is victorious;" Latin venerari "to worship," venus "love, sexual desire; loveliness, beauty;" Old English wynn "joy," wunian "to dwell," wenian "to accustom, train, wean," wyscan "to wish."

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    minor
    early 13c., in frere menour "Franciscan friar," literally "minor friar," from Latin minor "less, lesser, smaller, junior," figuratively "inferior, less important," which was formed as a masculine/feminine form of minus on the mistaken assumption that minus was a neuter comparativ
    mortal
    A mortal sin (early 15c., opposed to venial) is one that incurs the penalty of spiritual death....
    bug
    "insect, beetle," 1620s (earliest reference is to bedbugs), of unknown origin, probably (but not certainly) from or influenced by Middle English bugge "something frightening, scarecrow" (late 14c.), a word or meaning that has become obsolete since the "insect" sense arose, except
    bust
    1690s, "sculpture of upper torso and head," from French buste (16c.), from Italian busto "upper body," from Latin bustum "funeral monument, tomb," originally "funeral pyre, place where corpses are burned," perhaps shortened from ambustum, neuter of ambustus "burned around," past
    sanctuary
    early 14c., seintuarie, sentwary, etc., "consecrated place, building set apart for holy worship; holy or sacred object," from Anglo-French sentuarie, Old French saintuaire "sacred relic, holy thing; reliquary, sanctuary," from Late Latin sanctuarium "a sacred place, shrine" (espe
    comprise
    early 15c., "to include," from Old French compris, past participle of comprendre "to contain, comprise" (12c.), from Latin comprehendere "to take together, to unite; include; seize; to comprehend, perceive" (to seize or take in the mind), from com "with, together," here probably
    resign
    late 14c., "give up (something), surrender, abandon, submit; relinquish (an office, position, right, claim)," from Old French resigner "renounce, relinquish" (13c.), from Latin resignare "to check off, annul, cancel, give back, give up," from re-, here perhaps denoting "opposite"
    eccentric
    early 15c., "eccentric circle or orbit," originally a term in Ptolemaic astronomy, "circle or orbit not having the Earth precisely at its center," from French eccentrique and directly from Medieval Latin eccentricus (noun and adjective), from Greek ekkentros "out of the center" (
    countenance
    mid-13c., contenaunce, "behavior, bearing, conduct, manners;" early 14c., "outward appearance, looks," from Old French contenance "demeanor, bearing, conduct," from Latin continentia "restraint, abstemiousness, moderation," literally "way one contains oneself," from continentem,
    adolescent
    mid-15c., "youth, young person, one who is growing up," from French adolescent (15c.) or directly from Latin adolescentem/adulescentem (nominative adolescens/adulescens) "young man or woman, a youth," noun use of an adjective meaning "growing, near maturity, youthful." The adject

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