venal

• IPA^(key): /ˈviːnəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːnəl

From Latin vēna (“vein”) +‎ -al.

venal (comparative more venal, superlative most venal)

1. (rare, archaic) Venous; pertaining to veins.

Borrowed from French vénal, from Old French venel, from Latin vēnālis (“for sale”), from vēnum (“something for sale”); compare English vend.

venal (comparative more venal, superlative most venal)

1. (archaic) For sale; available for purchase.

   Synonym: purchasable

2. Of a position, privilege etc.: available for purchase rather than assigned on merit.
   • 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 140:

     Thus, regimental commands in the army were – as with the judiciary or the financial bureaucracy – venal posts, which were purchased, bequeathed and sold among the nobility.

3. Capable of being bought (of a person); willing to take bribes.

   Synonym: crooked

   Antonyms: straight, honest, uncorrupt

4. (of behaviour etc.) Corrupt, mercenary.
   • 1785, The Times, 9 Feb 1785, page 1, column C:

     Though there is a disposition in mankind, to declaim against the corruption and peculation of the present times, as being more venal than formerly; yet, if we look back to different periods, we shall find statesmen and politicians, as selfish and corrupt, […] as those who have lately figured on the political stage.

Venal behavior (bribery/corruption) is not to be confused with venial behavior (mildly wrong behavior).

• Alven, Levan, elvan, levan, navel

• IPA^(key): (Central) [bəˈnal]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [vəˈnal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [veˈnal]

From vena +‎ -al.

venal m or f (masculine and feminine plural venals)

1. venal, venous

Borrowed from Latin vēnālis (“for sale”), from vēnum (“something for sale”).

venal m or f (masculine and feminine plural venals)

1. for sale, sellable
2. venal (willing to take bribes)

   Synonym: subornable

• “venal”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “venal”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “venal” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “venal” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Learned borrowing from Latin vēnālis.^[1][2]

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: ven‧nal

venal m or f (plural venais, not comparable)

1. (anatomy) venal, venous (pertaining to veins)

   Synonym: venoso

2. related to sales, commercial

   Synonym: comercial

3. (figurative) easily bribable, capable of selling oneself; corrupt

   Synonym: corrupto

• venalmente

Borrowed from French vénal, from Latin venalis. By surface analysis, venă +‎ -al.

venal m or n (feminine singular venală, masculine plural venali, feminine and neuter plural venale)

1. venal, venous

• IPA^(key): /beˈnal/ [beˈnal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: ve‧nal

From vena +‎ -al.

venal m or f (masculine and feminine plural venales)

1. venous

   Synonym: venoso

Borrowed from Latin vēnālis (“for sale”), from vēnum (“something for sale”).

venal m or f (masculine and feminine plural venales)

1. venal, corruptible
2. for sale, sellable

   Synonym: vendible

• “venal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024