venison

[ven-uh-suh n, -zuh n]

noun

the flesh of a deer or similar animal as used for food.

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for venison

Contemporary Examples of venison

We had a vast vegetable garden, fruit trees, a henhouse, and my father would hunt most of our meat: venison, elk, bear.
Benjamin Percy: How I Write
Noah Charney
June 5, 2013
Dinner, at 8pm, normally consists of venison or salmon and salad.
No Garlic and Scones for the Corgis: Former Palace Chef Lifts Lid On Queen's Dining Habits
Tom Sykes
May 1, 2013
I should hope the city's homeless people will be munching on some venison burgers for the foreseeable future.
The Deer Slaughter Starts Tonight
Michael Tomasky
March 28, 2013
This chair by British designer Thomas Heatherwick is now on view in his show at Haunch of Venison gallery in New York.
A Chair Is Born
Blake Gopnik
February 14, 2012
She said the DIVA women were happy and supportive and her family ate the venison she brought home.
Ladies Lock and Load: American Women Buying More Guns
Shushannah Walshe
March 11, 2011

Historical Examples of venison

At length, he is persuaded--he blesses him, and eats the venison.
Female Scripture Biographies, Vol. I
Francis Augustus Cox
There, go you all on the rock, and I will bring up the Mohicans with the venison.
The Last of the Mohicans
James Fenimore Cooper
A pot pie may be made of ducks, rabbits, squirrels, or venison.
Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches
Eliza Leslie
As venison chills immediately, the plates should be kept on heaters.
Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches
Eliza Leslie
Trapper Jim showed them how to cook some of the venison in a most appetizing way.
With Trapper Jim in the North Woods
Lawrence J. Leslie

British Dictionary definitions for venison

venison

noun

the flesh of a deer, used as food
archaic the flesh of any game animal used for food

Word Origin for venison

C13: from Old French venaison, from Latin vēnātiō hunting, from vēnārī to hunt

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 venison

late 13c., from Old French venesoun "meat of large game," especially deer or boar, also "a hunt," from Latin venationem (nominative venatio) "a hunt," also "game as the product of the hunt," from venatus, past participle of venari "to hunt, pursue," probably from PIE root *weie- "to strive after, pursue with vigor, desire" (cf. Sanskrit veti "follows after," Avestan vayeiti "hunts," Lithuanian veju "to hunt, pursue," Old Church Slavonic voji "warrior," Old English waþ "hunting," Old Norse veiðr "chase, hunting, fishing;" see Venus).