venture

English

Etymology

Clipping of adventure.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈvɛn.t͡ʃɚ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈvɛn.t͡ʃə/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ven‧ture

Noun

venture (plural ventures)

1. A risky or daring undertaking or journey.
   • 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, chapter 4, in Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, OCLC 702939134, part I (The Old Buccaneer), page 30:

     My heart was beating finely when we two set forth in the cold night upon this dangerous venture.

2. An event that is not, or cannot be, foreseen.

   Synonyms: accident, chance, contingency

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, 1 Kings 22:34:

     A certain man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness.

3. The thing risked; especially, something sent to sea in trade.

   Synonym: stake

   • c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene i]:

     My ventures are not in one bottom trusted.

Hyponyms

• business venture
• joint venture

Translations

A risky or daring undertaking or journey

• Bulgarian: авантю́ра (bg) f (avantjúra)
• Catalan: aventura (ca) f
• Estonian: ettevõtmine
• Georgian: ავანტიურა (avanṭiura)
• German: Wagnis (de) n
• Irish: amhantar m

• Latin: ausum n
• Maori: hinonga
• Portuguese: aventura (pt) f
• Russian: авантю́ра (ru) f (avantjúra), рискованное (ru) (riskovannoje) начина́ние (ru) n (načinánije)
• Spanish: aventura (es) f
• Turkish: tehlikeli girişim (tr)/teşebbüs (tr)
• Volapük: riskod (vo)

Verb

venture (third-person singular simple present ventures, present participle venturing, simple past and past participle ventured)

1. (transitive) To undertake a risky or daring journey.
   • 1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis; John Dryden Jun., transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The Fourteenth Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […] Together with the Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus. […], London: Printed for Jacob Tonson […], OCLC 80026745:

     who freights a ship to venture on the seas

2. (transitive) To risk or offer.

   to venture funds

   to venture a guess

   Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

   • c. 1596, William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act IV, scene iii]:

     I am afraid; and yet I'll venture it.

   • 1922, James Joyce, chapter 13, in Ulysses:

     Till then they had only exchanged glances of the most casual but now under the brim of her new hat she ventured a look at him and the face that met her gaze there in the twilight, wan and strangely drawn, seemed to her the saddest she had ever seen.

3. (intransitive) to dare to engage in; to attempt without any certainty of success. Used with at or on
4. (transitive) To put or send on a venture or chance.

   to venture a horse to the West Indies

5. (transitive) To confide in; to rely on; to trust.
   • 1711, Joseph Addison, “No. 21, Saturday, March 24, 1710-11”, in The Spectator‎^[1]:

     A man would be well enough pleased to buy silks of one whom he would not venture to feel his pulse.

6. (transitive) To say something.

Derived terms

• venture capital

Related terms

• venturesome
• venturous

Translations

to undertake a risky journey

• Bulgarian: авантю́ра (bg) f (avantjúra)
• Catalan: aventurar (ca)
• French: s'aventurer (fr)

• Hungarian: merészkedik (hu), nekivág (hu)
• Latin: audeo
• Portuguese: aventurar-se

to risk

• Catalan: arriscar (ca)
• Dutch: riskeren (nl), wagen (nl)
• French: risquer (fr)
• Georgian: გარისკვა (garisḳva)
• Hungarian: megkockáztat (hu), kockáztat (hu)

• Latin: audeo
• Norwegian: våge
• Portuguese: arriscar (pt)
• Russian: рискова́ть (ru) (riskovátʹ)
• Spanish: arriesgar (es)

to dare to engage in; to attempt without any certainty of success

• French: oser (fr)
• Hungarian: merészkedik (hu), megkockáztat (hu), megkísérel (hu), mer (hu), merészel (hu)
• Korean: 감행하다 (gamhaenghada)
• Latin: audeo

• Norwegian: våge seg
• Russian: отваживаться (ru) (otvaživatʹsja)
• Sanskrit: धृष्णोति (sa) (dhṛṣṇoti)
• Telugu: కడగు (te) (kaḍagu)

Further reading

• venture in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• venture in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

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Italian

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ure

Adjective

venture

1. feminine plural of venturo

Noun

venture f

1. plural of ventura

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Latin

Participle

ventūre

1. vocative masculine singular of ventūrus