Standard Lemma guide

venison

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈvɛ.nɪ.zən/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈvɛ.nɪ.sən/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˈvɛ.nɪ.sən/
  • General-American: /ˈvɛ.nɪ.zən/
  • rhymes with -ɛnɪzən
  • rhymes with -ɛnɪsən
  • CMU ARPABET: V EH1 N AH0 S AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The meat of a deer, especially one that was hunted in its own natural habitat.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • After shooting a deer, field dressing is the next step necessary for high quality venison.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The meat of an antelope.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: South-Africa, countable, uncountable

Examples

  • 2007, Gregory Simon Bull, Marketing fresh venison in the Eastern Cape Province using a niche marketing strategy (thesis), page xcix

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

The meat of any wild animal that has been hunted rather than raised domestically.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, obsolete, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

meat from a deer used as food

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: game

History

Etymology

From Middle English venisoun, venesoun, from Anglo-Norman veneisun, venesoun, venesun (“meat of large game, particularly deer or boar; hunt”), from Latin vēnātiō, vēnātiōnem (“hunt; meat from a hunt”), formed on vēnātus, perfect participle of vēnor (“to hunt”). Doublet of venatio and venation.

Across languages

Translations

71 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Abenaki: nolkaiia — the meat of a deer
  • Ainu: ユㇰハル (yukharu) — the meat of a deer
  • Southern Altai: ак-кийиктиҥ эди (ak-kiyiktiŋ edi) — the meat of a deer
  • Arabic: لَحْم الْأَيِّل (laḥm al-ʔayyil) — the meat of a deer
  • Armenian: եղջերվամիս (eġǰervamis) — the meat of a deer
  • Armenian: եղնիկի միս (eġniki mis) — the meat of a deer
  • Asturian: venáu — the meat of a deer
  • Basque: oreinki — the meat of a deer
  • Bulgarian: еленово месо (elenovo meso) — the meat of a deer
  • Catalan: carn de cérvol — the meat of a deer
  • Chinese Cantonese: 鹿肉 — the meat of a deer
  • Chinese Mandarin: 鹿肉 (lùròu) — the meat of a deer
  • Czech: zvěřina — the meat of a deer
  • Danish: hjortekød — the meat of a deer
  • Esperanto: cervaĵo — the meat of a deer
  • Estonian: hirveliha — the meat of a deer
  • Finnish: hirvi — the meat of a deer
  • Finnish: hirvenliha — the meat of a deer
  • Finnish: peura — the meat of a deer
  • Finnish: peuranliha — the meat of a deer
  • Finnish: kauris — the meat of a deer
  • Finnish: kauriinliha — the meat of a deer
  • French: viande de biche — the meat of a deer
  • French: venaison — the meat of a deer
  • French: gibier — the meat of a deer
  • Georgian: ირმის ხორცი (irmis xorci) — the meat of a deer
  • German: Rehfleisch — the meat of a deer
  • German: Wildbret — the meat of a deer
  • German: Wildfleisch — the meat of a deer
  • Greek: ελάφι (eláfi) — the meat of a deer
  • Hebrew: בְּשַׂר צְבִי (b'sar ts'vi) — the meat of a deer
  • Hungarian: szarvashús — the meat of a deer
  • Irish: fiafheoil — the meat of a deer
  • Irish: oiseoil — the meat of a deer
  • Italian: carne di cervo — the meat of a deer
  • Italian: cacciagione — the meat of a deer
  • Japanese: 鹿肉 (shikaniku) — the meat of a deer
  • Kazakh: бұғы еті (būğy etı) — the meat of a deer
  • Korean: 사슴 고기 (saseum gogi) — the meat of a deer
  • Korean: 녹육 (nogyuk) — the meat of a deer
  • Kyrgyz: бугу эти (bugu eti) — the meat of a deer
  • Latin: ferīna — the meat of a deer
  • Lithuanian: elniena — the meat of a deer
  • Macedonian: срнешко (srneško) — the meat of a deer
  • Malay: daging rusa — the meat of a deer
  • Māori: mīti tia — the meat of a deer
  • Norwegian: rådyrkjøtt — the meat of a deer
  • Northern Ohlone: ṭoot — the meat of a deer
  • Ojibwe: waawaashkeshiwi-wiiyaas — the meat of a deer
  • Plautdietsch: Herschfleesch — the meat of a deer
  • Polish: sarnina — the meat of a deer
  • Portuguese: carne de cervo — the meat of a deer
  • Romanian: carne de căprioară — the meat of a deer
  • Romanian: carne de vânat — the meat of a deer
  • Romanian: vânat — the meat of a deer
  • Russian: олени́на (olenína) — the meat of a deer
  • Scottish Gaelic: sitheann — the meat of a deer
  • Slovene: divjačina — the meat of a deer
  • Lower Sorbian: źiwinowe měso — the meat of a deer
  • Spanish: carne de venado — the meat of a deer
  • Spanish: carne de ciervo — the meat of a deer
  • Sranan Tongo: diameti — the meat of a deer
  • Swahili: nyama ya kulungu — the meat of a deer
  • Swedish: hjortkött — the meat of a deer
  • Tagalog: karning-usa — the meat of a deer
  • Thai: เนื้อกวาง (gwaang) — the meat of a deer
  • Turkish: geyik eti — the meat of a deer
  • Vietnamese: thịt nai — the meat of a deer
  • Volapük: stägamit — the meat of a deer
  • Welsh: cig carw — the meat of a deer
  • Zazaki: gostê kosbes — the meat of a deer