Venery

In an astonishing coincidence, I came across the word "Venery" again, in an entirely different setting.

Ben and I are reading "Children of the New Forest". In chapter four, Jacob and Edward go on their very first hunting trip. Jacob shoots a Hart Royal, and they bring the stag home.

"During the walk home, Jacob initiated Edward into the terms of venery and many other points connected with deer-stalking, with which we shall not trouble our readers."

And I thought, "hold on a mo...that sounds like the same word Benjamin Franklin used for sexual gratification". So after we finished reading I looked on dictionary.com and lo and behold, it IS the same word.

Venery
1.The gratification of sexual desire. Origin 1490-1500
2. The practice or sport of hunting; the chase. Origin 1275-1325

Middle English: venerie, from Old French
Medieval Latin: Veneria
Latin: Venus, vener- meaning Desire, Love.
Which is the same root from which we get "venereal Disease."

Ah HA! Now I see the connection, if one looks as the gratification of sexual desire as a chase between a man and a woman, I can see how that meaning developed from the original meaning of the word being the chase of the stag or whatever. It later came to mean the act of sexual intercourse itself, as a further corruption of the original meaning.

Etymology is a beautiful thing. Absolutely fascinating. =)