Venetian

From Latin Venetianus (“Venetic; Venetian”), from Venetia (“lands of the Veneti; Venice, Veneto; Armorica”) + -anus (“-ian”), from Veneti + -ia. In the case of the Veneti of northern Brittany, derived from Gaulish Uenetoi (“the friendly ones, the kinsmen”), from Proto-Celtic *wenet, a derivation from *wenyā (“kindred”). In the case of the Veneti of northeastern Italy, of uncertain origin but presumably taken from a Venetic endonym, possibly Illyrian or Celtic. Equivalent to Veneto or Venetia +‎ -ian.

• (General American) IPA^(key): /vəˈniʃən/, /vɪˈniːʃən/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /vɪˈniːʃən/, /vɪˈniːʃn/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːʃən

Venetian (not comparable)

1. Of or related to Venice, an Italian city and (historical) its former republic and colonial empire around the Adriatic and eastern Mediterranean Seas.
2. (linguistics) Of or related to Venetian, the local language or Italian dialect spoken in the city.
3. (uncommon) Synonym of Venetic, of or related to Veneto, the Italian region around the city.
4. (historical, uncommon) Synonym of Venetic, of or related to the Veneti, either of two unrelated tribes of ancient Europe.

Venetian (plural Venetians)

1. An inhabitant or a resident of Venice, the city.
2. An inhabitant or a resident of Veneto, the surrounding region.
3. (colloquial) A Venetian blind.
   • 1859, Mowbray Thomson, The Story of Cawnpore:

     We never saw her ladyship, but the attendants told us, that the Venetians of her apartments were not impenetrably opaque from within, and that the old lady had seen us, and was concerned for our welfare.

4. (obsolete, in the plural) Galligaskins.

Venetian

1. The Romance language spoken mostly in the Veneto region of Italy.
2. The form of this language spoken in Venice.

It should not be confused with Venetic, an extinct Indo-European Italic language once spoken in the same area.

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Venetian terms
• ISO 639-3 code vec (SIL)
• Linguist List entry for Venetian, code vec

• “Venetian, n. and adj.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
• Xavier Delamarre (2003), Dictionnaire de la Langue Gauloise..., p. 312–313.

• Aventine