Venetian
[vuh-nee-shuh n]
- of or relating to Venice or its inhabitants.
- pertaining to or designating a style of painting developed in Venice principally during the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized chiefly by rich, often warm colors and the illusion of deep space.
- in or in imitation of the style typical of Venice: Venetian architecture.
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- a native or inhabitant of Venice.
- (lowercase) venetian blind.
- venetians, a tape or braid for supporting the slats of a venetian blind.
- Also called Venetian cloth. Textiles.
- a wool or worsted fabric made in satin or twill weave and sometimes napped, used in the manufacture of lightweight coats, suits, skirts, and dresses.
- a cotton fabric constructed in satin or twill weave, used chiefly for linings.
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Origin of Venetian
1400–50; < Medieval Latin Venetiānus, equivalent to Veneti(a) Venice + Latin -ānus -an; replacing Middle English Venicien < Middle French
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for venetian
Contemporary Examples
The Venetian police force is headquartered in the former convent, Santa Zaccaria, another site that has seen more exciting days.
As the story goes, many Venetian nuns were noble women forced into the convent to save their families from bankruptcy.
Page Six says they dined on mussel soup, crayfish and artichoke risotto at a tony Venetian restaurant.
Some of the fat stacks of $100s were held in place by Venetian casino wrappers.
Once upon a time, no self-respecting Venetian altar went without a carpet like these ones.
Historical Examples
Genoese and Venetian traders came with their stores of Eastern goods.
English VillagesP. H. Ditchfield
The Venetian shutters often had to be lowered in the summer to attenuate the great heat.
The Three Cities Trilogy, CompleteEmile Zola
He then took from the file one of the Venetian glasses of clouded white.
Vivian GreyEarl of Beaconsfield, Benjamin Disraeli
The green Venetian blind had fallen, hiding the window, hiding the stranger's face.
A Spirit in PrisonRobert Hichens
He wrote to the Venetian Senate to announce the cardinal's death on July 20.
The Life of Cesare BorgiaRaphael Sabatini
Venetian
- of, relating to, or characteristic of Venice or its inhabitants
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- a native or inhabitant of Venice
- See Venetian blind
- (sometimes not capital) one of the tapes that join the slats of a Venetian blind
- a cotton or woollen cloth used for linings
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for venetian
Venetian
early 15c., "native or resident of Venice," from Medieval Latin Venetianus, from Venetia (see Venice). Also probably in part from Old French Venicien. As a kind of dress cloth, from 1710. Venetian blinds so called by 1791.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper