Venus¹

Pl. Venuses (7, 9 Veneres). Also 5–6 Sc. Wenus. [L. Venus (gen. Veneris).]

  I.  1. Mythol. The ancient Roman goddess of beauty and love (esp. sensual love), or the corresponding Greek goddess Aphrodite.

a. 1000.  Sal. & Sat. (Kemble), 124. Ðone syxtan dæʓ hi ʓesetton ðære sceamleasan gydenan Uenus ʓehaten, and Frycg on Denisc.

1297.  R. Glouc., Chron. (Rolls), 2433. After him [Jupiter] we honoureþ venus mest, þat frie ycluped is.

c. 1330.  R. Brunne, Chron. Wace (Rolls), 604. So faire ladies ar none lyuand; Bot me þynkes of ȝow þre Dame Venus semes fairest to be.

1390.  Gower, Conf., II. 84. The Coper set is to Venus, And to his part Mercurius.

1412–20.  Lydg., Chron. Troy, II. 3443. In honour only of Venus, þe goddes, Whom þe Grekis with al her besynes Honoured most of euery maner age.

1490.  Caxton, Eneydos, xiv. 50. Certes, Venus, thou and thy sone Cupydo are gretely to be praysed.

1508.  Dunbar, Gold. Targe, 21. The birdis sang … With curiouse note, as Venus chapell clerkis.

1590.  Marlowe, 2nd Pt. Tamburl., IV. ii. Thou shalt … Sit like to Venus in her chaire of state, Commanding all thy princely eie desires.

1687.  Dryden, Hind & P., III. 1064. As if this troublesome intruding Guest Would drive the Birds of Venus [= doves] from their Nest.

1781.  Cowper, Conversat., 824. Certain feasts … Where Venus hears the lover’s tender vow.

1835.  Thirlwall, Greece, I. 141. The temple of Venus at Eryx, which was most probably founded by Phœnicians.

1875.  Encycl. Brit., II. 172/2. The native Roman goddess Venus, as distinguished from the Venus who through contact with the Greeks was afterwards identified with Aphrodite.

  b.  In allusive use: (cf. sense 2).

c. 1412.  Hoccleve, De Reg. Princ., 3890. Þere wole he outen his langage, And do to Bachus and Venus homage.

c. 1508.  C. Blowbol’s Test., 62. in Hazlitt, E. P. P., I. 94. He gaf me many a good certacion … That he had laboured in Venus secret celle.

1693.  trans. Blancard’s Phys. Dict. (ed. 2), s.v. Maslach, Sometimes they take Three Drams, without any prejudice, especially when they are about to Fight the Battels of Mars or Venus.

a. 1796.  Burns, Lines Windows Globe Tavern, Dumfries. In wars at hame I’ll spend my blood, Life-giving wars of Venus.

1809.  Malkin, Gil Blas, IV. vii. ¶ 8. He could not stomach those beauties who call a spade a spade. Such were not for his market; the rites of Venus must be consummated in the temple of Vesta.

  c.  A representation, esp. a statue or image, of Venus.

a. 1568.  Ascham, Scholem., II. Wks. (1904), 301. Cæsar … is like the halfe face of a Venus, the other part of the head beyng hidden, the bodie and the rest of the members vnbegon.

1601.  Holland, Pliny, II. 566. But of all the images that ever were made,… his [sc. Praxiteles] Venus passeth, which hee wrought for them of Gnidos.

a. 1700.  Evelyn, Diary, 23 May 1645. ’Twixt the pictures two naked Venus’s by Titian. Ibid. A Venus of marble, veiled from the middle to the feete.

1722.  Richardson, Statues etc. in Italy, 134. There is a Venus which stands just by This which is Irreproachable.

1834.  Penny Cycl., II. 157/2. Many representations of the goddess [Aphrodite] … are extant: among these, the celebrated statue, called the Venus de’ Medici, is that with which we are most familiarized.

1850.  Thackeray, Pendennis, lii. The wig-box beside the Venus upon the middle shelf of the book-case.

  d.  A local or other distinct conception of the goddess; also transf., a goddess in other mythologies corresponding to Venus.

1770.  Percy, trans. Mallet’s Northern Antiq., I. 94. This Frea became in the sequel … the Venus of the north, doubtless because she passed for the principle of all fecundity.

1828.  Duppa, Trav. Italy, etc., 136. He also shewed us a little bronze statue of a Venus.

1877.  W. R. Cooper, Egyptian Obelisks, vii. (1878), 30. Under the special protection of Hathor, the Egyptian Venus.

  † 2.  The desire for sexual intercourse; indulgence of sexual desire; lust, venery. Obs.

1513.  Douglas, Æneid, IV. Prol. 97. Childir to engener ois Venus, and nocht in vane.

1573.  L. Lloyd, Marrow of Hist. (1653), 253. Sardanapalus … was alwaies werid but never satisfied with Venus.

1620.  Venner, Via Recta, iii. 61. It yeeldeth very good nourishment, which … encreaseth seede, and exciteth Venus.

1697.  Dryden, Virg. Georg., IV. 259. What’s more strange, their modest Appetites, Averse from Venus, fly the Nuptial Rites.

1746.  Francis, trans. Horace, Epist., I. xviii. 43. If Venus be his darling Vice. Ibid. (1746), Sat., I. iv. 148. An honest Venus will indulge your Flame.

  † 3.  A quality or characteristic that excites love; a charm, grace or attractive feature. Obs.

1540.  Palsgr., Acolastus, L iv b. Here dwell Venusis and graces of al kynd.

1607.  Middleton, Five Gallants, I. i. A pretie, fat eyde wench, with a Venus in her cheeke.

1621.  Burton, Anat. Mel., I. ii. IV. vi. All the Graces, Veneres, pleasures, elegances attend him.

1642.  R. Stapylton, Juvenal, 236. Know’st not how many Venuses appear In others gold?

1711.  Shaftesb., Charac. (1737), I. 138. Everyone is a virtuoso, of a higher or lower degree: every-one pursues a Grace, and courts a Venus of one kind or another. Ibid., 337. If he knows not this Venus, these Graces [etc.].

  † b.  Beauty; charm. Obs. rare.

1657.  G. Thornley, Daphnis & Chloe, 181. The Garden;… the place now made a waste;… all the Venus of the place was gone.

1711.  Shaftesb., Charac. (1737), I. 337. To discover, amidst the many false manners and ill stiles, the true and natural one, which represents the real beauty and Venus of the kind. Ibid. ’Tis the like moral Grace, and Venus, which … is copy’d by the writing artist.

  4.  A beautiful or attractive woman.

a. 1579.  T. Hacket, trans. Amadis of Fr., VIII. 188 (Stf.). One day ye reputed me for a Venus, that rested … in your heart.

1675.  J. Smith, Chr. Relig. App., III. 8. The great Beauty of the Land, an Helen, a Venus.

1706–7.  Farquhar, Beaux. Strat., IV. ii. Had my Spark call’d me a Venus directly, I shou’d have believ’d him a Footman in good earnest.

a. 1814.  Woman’s Will, II. i., in New Brit. Theatre, IV. 62. Witness the Hottentot Venus before she has strung on her beads.

1816.  Tuckey, Narr. Exped. R. Zaire, i. (1818), 18. The dreams they had indulged in of the sable Venuses which they were to find on the banks of the Congo.

a. 1841.  T. Hook, Ned Musgrave, i. The evening on which he first saw this Venus of the village.

  II.  5. Astr. The second planet in order of distance from the sun, revolving in an orbit between those of Mercury and the earth; the morning or evening star.

c. 1290.  S. Eng. Leg., I. 311. Sethþe þe sonne is, Venus sethþe, þe clere steorre.

1297.  R. Glouc., Chron. (Rolls), 4704. To tueye sterren, þat me sucþ ylome, Venus & Mercurius, hii weneþ þat hii bicome.

c. 1374.  Chaucer, Troylus, V. 1016. The bryght venus folwede and ay taughte The wey, ther brode Phebus down alighte.

c. 1400.  Treat. Astron., 8 b (MS. Bodl. B. 17). The secunde owre of þe same day is the owre of þe planet Venus.

c. 1480.  Henryson, Test. Cres., 11. Fair Venus, the bewtie of the nicht, Uprais.

1590.  Shaks., Mids. N., III. ii. 107. Let her shine as gloriously As the Venus of the sky.

1664.  Butler, Hud., II. iii. 530. Venus you retriv’d, In opposition with Mars, And no benigne friendly Stars T’ allay th’ effect.

1727–46.  Thomson, Summer, 1695. Sudden to heaven Thence weary vision turns; where … with purest ray Sweet Venus shines.

1771.  Encycl. Brit., I. 436/2. When Venus appears west of the sun, she rises before him in the morning, and is called the morning-star; when she appears east of the sun, she shines in the evening after he sets, and is then called the evening-star.

1842.  Francis, Dict. Arts, s.v., Venus changes her phases like those of the moon, according to her position, relative to the earth and sun.

1868.  Lockyer, Guillemin’s Heavens (ed. 3), 81. Thus the solid ground of Venus is uneven, like that of Mercury and the Earth.

  † 6.  Alch. Copper. (In quot. 1797 allusively.)

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Can. Yeom. Prol. & T., 276. Sol gold is,… and Jubiter is tyn, And Venus coper, by my fader kyn.

1594.  Plat, Jewell-ho., I. 20. The Alcumists giue a blauncher vnto Venus with the salt of Tartar.

1610.  B. Jonson, Alch., II. i. The great med’cine! Of which one part proiected on a hundred Of Mercurie, or Venus, or the Moone, Shall turne it to as many of the Sunne.

1728.  Chambers, Cycl., s.v. Copper, The Chymists call it Venus; as supposing it to have some more immediate Relation to that Planet.

1758.  [see JUPITER 2 b].

1797.  W. Johnston, trans. Beckmann’s Invent., I. 398. One may justly doubt whether, at present, Mars, Venus, or Saturn, is most destructive to the human race.

  † b.  So in crystals, saffron, salt, vinegar, vitriol of Venus (see quots.). Obs.

1693.  Phil. Trans., XVII. 901. This very elaborate method of procuring the Salt of Venus.

1704.  J. Harris, Lex. Techn., I. Vitriol of Copper or Venus is Blue Chrystals made by a Solution of Copper in Spirit of Nitre, Evaporation, and Chrystallization in a cool place.

1728.  Chambers, Cycl., s.v. Copper, The Calx of Brass, called … sometimes … Saffron of Venus, is nothing but Copper calcin’d in a violent Fire.

1797.  Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3), XVI. 623. The acetous salt of copper, called crystals of Venus, or of verdigris, by the chemists.

1807.  T. Thomson, Chem. (ed. 3), II. 259. When acetate of copper, reduced to powder, is put into a retort and distilled, there comes over a liquid … and afterwards a highly concentrated acid…. The acid … was formerly distinguished by the names of radical vinegar and vinegar of Venus.

  † 7.  Her. A name for the tincture green or vert when the names of planets are used in blazonry.

[1562.  Legh, Armory, 16. I pray you what planet belongeth to this colour [sc. vert]? Venus.]

1572.  Bossewell, Armorie, II. 78 b. The fielde is parted per Fesse Dented, Venus, and Saturne, five brasauntes.

1680.  Sir G. Mackenzie, Her., 18–19.

1704.  J. Harris, Lex. Techn., I. Vert, the Heralds Word for a Green Colour;… in Coats of Nobles, ’tis called Emerauld; and in those of Kings ’tis called Venus.

  8.  The highest or most favorable cast or throw in playing with huckle-bones.

1611.  Cotgr., s.v., The play at huckle-bones, wherein he that turns vp Venus (figured on one side of the bone) doth winne; whereas he that turnes vp the dog, doth lose.

c. 1650.  in MS. Ashmole 788, fol. 162. The game of Astragalls…. When all y^e fower boanes shal shew seuerall sides this is the most fortunate cast & is called Midas or Venus take all Cock-all.

1737.  Ozell, Rabelais, III. p. xvi. Venus was the best Cast, three Sices.

[1876.  Browning, At the ‘Mermaid,’ xv. Well may you blaspheme at fortune! I ‘threw Venus’ (Ben, expound!).]

  9.  Girdle, mound, mount, ring of Venus, in palmistry (see quots.); also mount of Venus, in anatomy (see quot. 1728).

  Cf. Venus girdle (1653), in 12 below.

1695.  Congreve, Love for L., II. iii. She has … a moist Palm, and an open Liberality on the Mount of Venus.

1728.  Chambers, Cycl., s.v., Mount of Venus, Mons Veneris, among Anatomists, is a little hairy Protuberance, in the middle of the Pubes of Women. Ibid. Among Chiromancers, the Mount of Venus is a little Eminence in the Palm of the Hand, at the Root of one of the Fingers.

1865.  Beamish, Psychon. Hand, 31. The line of Saturn, the ring of Venus, and the line of Apollo.

1894.  Paul Bello, Palmistry, 21. The Girdle of Venus is a line describing a semicircle, extending from between the Mounts of Jupiter and Saturn to the Mount of Mercury. This girdle is generally absent.

1900.  Ina Oxenford, Mod. Palmistry, 22. The Mount of Venus encircles the root of the thumb, and is bounded more or less by the Life-line.

  10.  Zool. A genus of bivalve mollusks typically representing the family Veneridæ; a member of this genus or family; a venerid. Cf. CLAM sb.² 1 d.

1770.  Pennant, Brit. Zool. (1777), IV. [p. xiv]. Commercial Venus [and various other species]. Ibid., 93.

1802–3.  trans. Pallas’s Trav. (1812), II. 293. A ribbed Venus, rounded at one extremity.

1857.  Gosse, Omphalos, viii. 228. That lilac-tinted Prickly Venus (Dione Veneris).

1880.  Bastian, Brain, 75. The Razor-fish, Cockle, Venus, and other bivalves possessing … ‘siphon-tubes.’

  β. pl.  1770.  Pennant, Brit. Zool. (1777), IV. 89. Tellina rugosa.… Dredged up at Weymouth. Misplaced among the Venuses.

1822.  J. Parkinson, Outl. Oryctol., 257. That these supposed fresh-water shells are sometimes found scattered among a multitude of acknowledged sea shells, as, Oysters, Venus’s, &c.

1843.  Penny Cycl., XXVI. 209/2. In the Veneres the animal, furnished with longer siphons, is provided with a retractor muscle.

  III.  attrib. and Comb.

  11.  Simple attrib. (also possessive without ’s), as Venus bower, court, knot, † mole, † star, throw, etc.

c. 1550.  Rolland, Crt. Venus, I. 90. In *Venus Bowr to eik baith game and glew.

1513.  Douglas, Æneid, IV. Prol. 159. Lat ws in riot leif, in sport and gam, In *Venus court.

1579.  Lyly, Euphues (Arb.), 108. If [she is] one of Venus court, they haue vowed dishonestye.

1590.  Shaks., Mids. N., I. i. 171. I sweare to thee,… By the simplicitie of *Venus Doues.

1876.  T. Hardy, Ethelberta (1877), 35. Her hair fastened in a sort of *Venus knot behind.

1620.  Swetnam Arraigned (1880), 45. By Art they know … how to adde A *Venus mole on euery wanton cheeke.

1596.  Shaks., Merch. V., II. vi. 5. O ten times faster *Venus Pidgions flye To steale loues bonds new made.

1902.  Edinb. Rev., Oct., 321. Helen, by reason of the *Venus-spell,… loves Paris.

a. 1593.  Marlowe & Nashe, Dido, 39. *Venus swannes shall shed their siluer downe, To sweeten out the slumbers of thy bed.

1591.  Spenser, Daphn., 483. And night without a *Venus starre is found.

1611.  Florio, Venere,… the day or morning star, called Lucifer or Venus star.

1879.  Lewis & Short, Lat. Dict., Venerens, the *Venus-throw at dice.

  b.  In sense 2, as Venus act, exercise, life, play, work, etc.

c. 1400.  Destr. Troy, 753. Þai solast hom samyn … With venus werkes, þat hom well pleasid.

1508.  Dunbar, Tua Mariit Wemen, 399. He that wantes riches, And valȝeandnes in Venus play, is ful vile haldin.

1513.  Douglas, Æneid, IV. Prol. 187. With Venus henvifis quhat wyse may I flite?

a. 1578.  Lindesay (Pitscottie), Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.), I. 158. That licherie and wenus lyfe hes oft tymes a euill end.

1611.  Florio, Venereo,… given to Venus-sports, or letchery.

1617.  Moryson, Itin., II. 166. Most of them when they were stripped, were seene to have scarres of Venus warfare.

1623.  Cockeram, I. Venus-escuage, wanton fleshlinesse. Ibid., III. Barnacle, a kinde of Sea Gull, it growes not by Venus act, but as Dubartas writes [etc.].

1634.  Sir T. Herbert, Trav., 151. Opium … makes them strong and long in Venus exercises.

1658.  Rowland, trans. Moufet’s Theat. Ins., 1004. Unless there had been plenty of milk at hand, this Venus bird had died and suffered deservedly for his Lechery.

1786.  Burns, A Dream, xiii. A glorious Galley,… Weel rigg’d for Venus barter.

1821.  Liddle, Poems, 26. Your venus jobs now’s a’ kend thro’ The Loudins braid.

  c.  In sense 10.

1816.  Tuckey, Narr. Exped. R. Zaire, ii. (1818), 58. Fragments of shells of the cockle and venus genera.

1861.  P. P. Carpenter, in Rep. Smithsonian Instit., 1860, 256. The Venus-tribe may be regarded as the types of the Lamellibranchs.

  12.  Special combs. (of the possessive, with or without ’s): Venus † gem, † girdle, † hair, Venus’s hair-stone, pencil (see quots.).

1601.  Holland, Pliny, II. 621. Such Amethysts as these…; many give them the name of Venus gems, for the great grace that they have … both in fashion and colour. Ibid., 629. The stone called Venus haire, is exceeding blacke and shining; howbeit it maketh a shew of red haires sprinckled among.

1653.  R. Sanders, Physiogn., 49. Venus Girdle is a Semicircle that begins between the fore-finger and the middle finger, and ends between the fourth finger and the little one.

1884.  Imp. Dict., IV. Venus’s hair-stones, Venus’s pencils, fanciful names applied to rock crystals inclosing slender hair-like or needle-like crystals of hornblende, asbestos, oxide of iron, rutile, oxide of manganese, &c.

  b.  Bot. Venus’s basin, bath, the wild teasel, Dipsacus sylvestris; Venus’s comb, the shepherd’s needle, Scandix Pecten-Veneris; Venus’s cup, Venus’s basin; Venus’s flytrap, the North American marsh-plant Dionæa muscipula; † Venus’ garden, = Venus’s navelwort (a); † Venus’ glass, Venus’s looking-glass; Venus golden apple (see quot.); Venus’ hair, the maiden-hair, Adiantum Capillus-Veneris (see also quot. c. 1711); † Venus’ laver, Venus’s basin; Venus(’s) looking-glass, one or other of certain plants belonging to the genus Specularia, esp. S. (or Campanula) Speculum († Speculum Veneris); Venus’ navel, = next (a); Venus’s navelwort, (a) the pennywort, Cotyledon Umbilicus; (b) one or other species of annual plants belonging to the genus Omphalodes, esp. O. linifolia; † Venus needle, Venus’s comb; Venus-pear, a variety of pear mentioned by Pliny and Columella; Venus’s pride, U.S. (see quot.); Venus’s slipper, the lady’s slipper, Cypripedium Calceolus.

1551.  Turner, Herbal, I. O iv b. Dipsacos, called in latin labrum veneris: that is *venus basin, because it holdeth alwayes water.

1578.  [see below].

1597.  Gerarde, Herbal, II. cccclxxi. 1006. Teasell is called … Carde Teasell, and Venus Bason.

1671.  Skinner, Venus-bason, Dipsacus vulgaris.

1763.  Stukeley, Palæogr. Sacra, 25. Ladys fingers, ladys traces, ladys linnen, Venus glass, Venus bason,… etc.

1863.  Prior, Plant-n., Venus Bason, Veneris labrum, so named … from the hollows formed by the united bases of the leaves being usually filled with water, that was used … to remove warts and freckles.

1578.  Lyte, Dodoens, 522. Called in … Englishe, Fullers Teasel, Carde Thistell, and *Venus bath or Bason.

1855.  Miss Pratt, Flower. Pl., III. 169. Wild Teazel … is still often called Venus’s Bath.

1866.  Treas. Bot., 1208/1. Venus’ bath, Dipsacus sylvestris: so named from water collecting in the connate bases of the opposite leaves.

1597.  Gerarde, Herbal, II. cccc. 884. Pecten Veneris, siue Scandix, Shepheards Needle, or *Venus combe.

1671.  Skinner, Venus-Comb.

1753.  Chambers’ Cycl., Suppl., Scandyx, venus comb…. The flower is of the rosaceous kind, consisting of several petals, which are arranged in a circular order on a cup.

1785.  Martyn, Lett. Bot., xvii. (1794), 238. Venus’s-comb is remarkable for long processes or beaks terminating the seeds.

1863.  Prior, Plant-n., Venus’ Comb, from the slender tapering beaks of the seed-vessels being set together like the teeth of a comb.

1855.  Miss Pratt, Flower. Pl., III. 69. Wild Teazel … is still often called … *Venus’s Cup.

1775.  Ann. Reg., II. 93. A Description of a newly discovered Sensitive Plant, called Dionæa Muscipula, or *Venus’s Fly-trap.

1857.  A. Gray, First Less. Bot. (1866), 171. The Venus’s Fly-trap … growing where it is always sure of all the food a plant can need.

1867.  H. Macmillan, Bible Teach., vii. (1870), 148. The leaf of the Venus’ fly-trap of North America, closing together on its prey by turning on its mid-rib as on a hinge.

1597.  Gerarde, Herbal, II. cxliii. 424. Nauelwort is called … of some Hortus Veneris, or *Venus garden.

1611.  Cotgr., Nombril de Venus,… Wall Penniwort, Venus garden, Hipwort.

1728.  Bradley, Dict. Bot., II. s.v., *Venus Glass,… Speculum veneris sive Viola Pentagona.

1763.  [see Venus basin].

1888.  Nicholson’s Dict. Gard., IV. *Venus’ Golden Apple, a common name for Atalantia monophylla.

1548.  Turner, Names Herbes (E.D.S.), 9. *Venus heir is in a meane tempre betwene hote & colde.

1578.  Lyte, Dodoens, 409. Venus heare groweth in walles, and in stony shadowy places.

1661.  Lovell, Hist. Anim. & Min., 450. Leaves, of venus-haire, and lungwort.

c. 1711.  Petiver, Gazophyl., VI. liv. Round leaved Malabar Venus-hair…. Its large notch’d Leaves on single Stalks, distinguish it from others.

1858.  Simmonds, Dict. Trade, s.v., Venus’-hair, the Adiantum capillus-Veneris, given as an expectorant, and forming the basis of the celebrated syrup of capillaire.

1601.  Holland, Pliny, II. 376. The little grub or worme which is found in the hearbe Tazill, called *Venus Laver.

1597.  Gerarde, Herbal, II. civ. 356. Speculum Veneris, *Venus Looking glasse … groweth in ploughed fields among the corne.

1681.  Grew, Musæum, II. iii. iii. 234. The Seed of Venus Looking-Glass.

a. 1689.  Mrs. Behn, trans. Cowley’s Plants, C.’s Wks. 1711, III. 372. But say Corn-Violet, why thou dost claim Of Venus Looking-Glass the pompous Name.

1785.  Martyn, Lett. Bot., xvi. (1794), 189. Venus’s Looking-glass is a Campanula, with a weak, low, and very branching stalk.

1863.  Prior, Plant-n., Venus’ Looking-Glass, from the resemblance of its flowers set upon their cylindrical ovary to an ancient round mirror at the end of a straight handle.

1592.  R. D., Hypnerotomachia, 24 b. With other murall and wall weeds comming out of the chinkes as … *Venus Navill.

1625.  B. Jonson, Pan’s Annivers., Wks. (Rtldg.), 643/1. Bring … Bright crown imperial, kingspear, holyhocks, Sweet Venus-navel.

1678.  Phillips (ed. 4), *Venus Navelwort,… Plant of Venus, esteemed of great use;… otherwise called Wall Penywort, and Kidneywort.

1731.  Miller, Gard. Dict., s.v. Omphalodes, Low Vernal Venus Navel-wort, with a Comfry-leaf, or Lesser Borage.

1767.  Abercrombie, Ev. Man his own Gardener (1803), 104. Hardy Annual Flower-seeds:… Lobel’s catch-fly, Venus’ navel-wort, dwarf poppy.

1866.  Treas. Bot., 812/1. Omphalodes;… several species are grown in English gardens, under the name of Venus’s Navelwort.

1882.  Garden, 10 June, 411/3. Small bouquets of pink Brier Roses with Venus’s Navelwort.

1597.  Gerarde, Herbal, II. cccc. 884. Scandix,… Venus Coombe, or *Venus Needle.

1648.  Hexham, II. App., Venus-peere, a *Venus-peere.

1879.  Lewis & Short, Lat. Dict., Vinerea pira, a kind of pear, Venus-pear.

1845–50.  Mrs. Lincoln, Lect. Bot., 143. The Houstonia cærulea … is known by different common names; as Innocence, *Venus’s Pride, and Blue Houstonia.

1785.  Martyn, Lett. Bot., xxvii. (1794), 423. It has more resemblance to a wooden shoe in form, and therefore is unworthy the title of *Venus’s Slipper, which Linnæus has bestowed upon it.

  c.  Zool. Venus-basket, Venus’s flower-basket; Venus(’s) comb, Venus’s cup (see quots.); Venus’s ear, a sea-ear or ear-shell; Venus’s fan, a sea-fan, esp. Rhipodogorgia (Gorgonia) flabellum; Venus’s flower-basket, a glass-sponge of the genus Euplectella, esp. E. aspergillum; Venus’s girdle (see quots.); † Venus purr (see quot. and PURR sb.²); Venus’ purse, Venus’s flower-basket (Funk’s Stand. Dict., 1895); Venus-shell, a bivalve mollusk belonging to the family Veneridæ or related species; a venus, murex or cowry; Venus’s slipper (see quot.); † Venus-winkle (see quots. and cf. PORCELAIN 3).

1882.  Cassell’s Nat. Hist., VI. 318. In some the form is constant and characteristic, as in the fairy-like *Venus-basket (Euplectella).

1842.  Penny Cycl., XXII. 54/2. Murex Tribulus, Linn…. This is the *Venus’s Comb of collectors, and when perfect is a most delicate and striking shell.

1864.  Chambers’s Encycl., VI. 616/2. The Venus Comb of the Indian seas is … a very … beautiful shell, with many long thin spines.

1885.  Lady Brassey, The Trades, 312. There were … grey sponges, sometimes called *Venus’s cups,—in shape not unlike coral Neptune’s cups.

1859.  H. Kingsley, G. Hamlyn, xxxiv. They fell to gathering shells … like children,… Trochuses,… and *‘Venus-ears,’ scarlet outside.

1880.  Miss Bird, Japan, II. 87. One urn and a large covered bowl are beautifully inlaid with Venus’ ear.

1855.  Kingsley, Glaucus, 33. The great stony *Venus’s fan which hangs in seamen’s cottages, brought home from the West Indies.

1860.  Worcester (citing Baird), Venus’s Fan,… the common name of much branched and reticulated polypes of the family Gorgoniæ.

1872.  Good Words, 703. One of the most beautiful of all natural productions, the Euplectella, or *‘Venus’s Flower-basket.’

1896.  trans. Boas’ Text Bk. Zool., 121. The beautiful Philippine Venus’s Flower-Basket (Euplectella aspergillum), which like several of its allies, lives at considerable depths.

1870.  Nicholson, Man. Zool., xvi. I. 114. In Cestum, or *Venus’ Girdle, ‘elongation takes place to an extraordinary extent.’

1896.  trans. Boas’ Text Bk. Zool., 118. Cestus veneris (Venus’s girdle), with body much compressed and elongated to a ligamentous form.

1793.  Petiver, Aquat. Anim. Amboinæ, Tab. 18/12. Purra Venerea,… White *Venus Pur.

1589.  Rider, Bibl. Schol., 1723. A sea snaile, or *Venus shell, cochlea Veneris.

1615.  trans. De Monfart’s Surv. E. Indies, 31. Their Venus-shells consist of certaine kind of earth or clay which hath remaind a 100 yeares in one place.

1666.  J. Davies, trans. Rochefort’s Caribby Isles, 121. The Venus-shells may justly be numbred among the rarest productions of the Sea.

1681.  Grew, Musæum, I. vi. i. 137. Venus-Shell. Concha Veneris. Because beautiful.

1872.  A. Domett, Ranolf, VI. ii. 112. Exact as roseate streak for streak Some opened Venus-shell displays.

1836.  Penny Cycl., VI. 294/1. The shells of this genus [sc. Carinaria] were formerly known to collectors under the name of *‘Venus’s Slipper’ and ‘Glass Nautilus.’

1601.  Holland, Pliny, I. 253. The Porcellanes or *Venus Winkles swimme above the water, and with their concavitie and hollow part which they set into the weather, helpe themselves in stead of sailes.

1611.  Florio, Veneria, a Scallop called a Purcelane or Venus-winkle.