prettygoodword: text: words are sexy (Default)
prettygoodword ([personal profile] prettygoodword) wrote2010-03-01 07:25 am

venust

venust (vee-NUST) - adj., (obs.) beautiful, comely of form.


Er, yeah. I can see why it went obsolete. Almost the only modern dictionary to include it is Webster's International, which gives it a short shrift. From Latin venustus, from Venus, the goddess of love. Now if it had been adopted as venustous, like most other -tus words from Latin, it'd look a little less weird.

---L.

[identity profile] flwyd.livejournal.com 2010-03-01 11:42 pm (UTC)(link)
But as is, it conveniently rhymes with "lust."

[identity profile] prettygoodword.livejournal.com 2010-03-02 03:18 pm (UTC)(link)
True, and potentially useful.

---L.