venture

venture

English

Etymology

Clipping of adventure.

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛntʃə(ɹ)
• 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.

   • 1979, Johanna Menzel Meskill, A Chinese Pioneer Family‎, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, →ISBN, OCLC 899004067, OL 4749470M, page 191:

     Other jobs which the governor entrusted to Ch'ao-tung dealt with the economic exploitation of the newly won mountain areas. In the Miao-li region, Ch'ao-tung headed an office for developing the petroleum resources discovered there.³⁸ Without much success during his tenure, the venture was later turned over to private entrepreneurs.

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 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] 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

Albanian: ndërmarrje (sq) f Belarusian: аванту́ра f (avantúra) Bulgarian: авантю́ра (bg) f (avantjúra) Catalan: aventura (ca) f Estonian: ettevõtmine Georgian: ავანტიურა (avanṭiura) German: Wagnis (de) n Irish: amhantar m Italian: avventura (it) f, azzardo (it) m, impresa (it) f Latin: ausum n Maori: hinonga Portuguese: aventura (pt) f Russian: авантю́ра (ru) f (avantjúra), риско́ванное начина́ние n (riskóvannoje načinánije) Spanish: aventura (es) f Turkish: tehlikeli girişim (tr)/teşebbüs (tr) Ukrainian: авантю́ра (uk) f (avantjúra) 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 […] (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.

   • 1939 November, “What the Railways are Doing: Penda's Way—A Station built in a Day”, in Railway Magazine, page 364:

     [...] Mrs. Bray [...] expressed amazement at the speed with which the station was completed, and ventured the opinion that private contractors could still learn something from the railway companies.

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:

     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

Catalan: aventurar (ca) French: s'aventurer (fr) Hungarian: merészkedik (hu), nekivág (hu) Italian: avventurarsi Latin: audeo Old English: neþan Polish: zapuszczać się impf, zapuścić się Portuguese: aventurar-se

to risk

Bulgarian: рискувам (bg) (riskuvam) Catalan: arriscar (ca) Dutch: riskeren (nl), wagen (nl) French: risquer (fr) Georgian: გარისკვა (garisḳva) Hungarian: megkockáztat (hu), kockáztat (hu) Italian: azzardare (it) 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

Bulgarian: дръзвам (bg) (drǎzvam), осмелявам се (osmeljavam se) French: oser (fr) Hungarian: merészkedik (hu), megkockáztat (hu), megkísérel (hu), mer (hu), merészel (hu) Italian: osare (it) 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

• IPA^(key): /venˈtu.re/
• Rhymes: -ure
• Hyphenation: ven‧tù‧re

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