poisonous or capable of injecting toxins; also figuratively meaning malicious or spiteful.
From Old French 'venimous,' from Latin 'venenosus' derived from 'venenum' meaning 'poison,' possibly originally meaning 'love potion' in pre-Latin languages.
The irony is that 'venenum' (poison) might share roots with 'Venus' and love potions—ancient poisons and love charms were inseparable in folklore, showing how danger and desire were once linguistically linked.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.