venison
Americannoun
noun
-
the flesh of a deer, used as food
-
archaic the flesh of any game animal used for food
Etymology
Origin of venison
1250–1300; Middle English ven ( a ) ison < Old French veneison, venaison < Latin vēnātiōn (stem of vēnātiō hunting), equivalent to vēnāt ( us ) ( see venatic) + -iōn- -ion
Explanation
Bambi, beware. Venison is deer meat intended as food. Venison is derived from the medieval French word venesoun, which originally described the meat of any large animal, not just deer. Back then, venison was as common as a Big Mac today (rather than as the fairly classy meal it's considered today). In Britain, before 1066, when the French came over and conquered them, the Brits had pretty simple names for their meat: cow, pig, deer, etc. The French, with their high regard for cuisine, changed all that, and the names became beef, bacon, and venison. The British, though, despite the fancy new names, famously refused to take cooking as seriously as their new French rulers.
Vocabulary lists containing venison
My Side of the Mountain
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The Birchbark House
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Old Yeller
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
De Boer focuses on the kind of fare a traveler craves when coming in from the cold: venison and Sherry pie, spit-roasted duck, cups of warming bone broth.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 27, 2026
The Country Food Trust is a food poverty charity that uses venison from deer shot on estates and farms to provide meals at 1,500 foodbanks, homeless shelters and community kitchens across the UK.
From BBC • Feb. 19, 2026
The government said it also wanted to promote and support a domestic market for the venison from culled deer, including pushing for more to be bought and served up by schools, prisons and hospitals.
From BBC • Feb. 19, 2026
These hunks of gently cooked fish and venison took up most of my freezer and cost a fortune, but I felt virtuous knowing that my dog was eating “human grade” fare.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 28, 2026
“Tasty rats” is what Gramps calls them when he grills up venison steaks.
From "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
