▪ I. † veny1 Obs.
Also 3 uenie, 5 pl. venyse, veneis.
[a. AF. venie (= OF. veine veyne), ad. L. venia indulgence, pardon, remission.]
Pardon or forgiveness; a request for this; the gesture of kneeling or prostrating oneself as an indication of penitence and desire for pardon.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 46 Ȝif ȝe þurh ȝemeleaste gluffeð of wordes..nimeð ower uenie dun et ter eorðe mid te honden one. Ibid. 426 Ase ofte ase heo hit doð..makien hore uenie akneon adun to þer eorðe biuoren hire, & sigge ‘Mea culpa’. c 1400 Rule St. Benet (Prose) 141 When sho comes whare the cuuent takis þare venyse, þan sall sho prostrate downe. 14.. in Maskell Mon. Rit. II. 279 All other observance of the order as..Inclinacyons, veneis and prostracyons. 1482 Monk of Evesham (Arb.) 33 And thanne y came and lay prostrate before hym, askyng my veny and rehersyd ageyne my Confiteor, etc. |
▪ II. veny2 Obs. exc. dial.
Forms: 6–7 veny, veney, venie, 7 venee, veany; 6–7 vennie, venney, venny; 8 dial. vinny, 9 finney.
[Alteration of venue, with the terminal vowel weakened through loss of stress. Freq. c 1580–c 1640.]
1. A hit or thrust in fencing; a wound or blow; = venue 2.
| 1578 H. Wotton Courtlie Controuersie 27 In daunger to receiue a venny at my hande. 1591 Sylvester Du Bartas i. i. 813 A sacred Fencer..Whose two-hand Sword, at every veny,..keenly slyces through whole Troops at once. 1635 Long Meg of Westminster vii. (1816) 14 Or else take that staffe and haue a bout with me for thy brakefast, hee that giues the first three Venies scape free. 1652 Urquhart Jewel Wks. (1834) 223 The three aforesaid gentlemen, who were wounded in the very same parts of their bodies by other such three venees as these. |
b. fig. and in fig. context; esp. a sharp retort, a pungent remark.
| 1586 Bright Melanch. xxxvi. 224 Accompt not these small venies of Sathan for deadly woundes. 1592 Greene Def. Conny-Catching To Rdr., I meane..to giue him such a veny, that he shalbe afrayd heereafter to disparage that mysticall science of Conny-catching. 1606 Heywood 2nd Pt. If you know not me (1609) F 4 b, Iohn. Name the weapon. Courtez. Nothing but kisses, and enticing lookes. Iohn. Then ward your lips well, or youle ha the first venney. 1643 Sir T. Browne Relig. Med. i. §55 That whilst we lye at close ward against one vice we lye [not] open to the vennie of another. 1685 Life William Bedell 302 As for these vain flourishes of mine, if he had not taken a veny in them, and found it smart, he had not strook again so churlishly. |
c. veny for veny, tit for tat.
| 1611 Chapman Widow's T. Wks. 1873 III. 20 So, there's venie for venie, I haue giuen't him 'ith speeding place for all his confidence. |
2. A bout or turn of fencing; = venue 3.
| 1594 Greene Fr. Bacon & Fr. Bungay 1944 Why standst thou Serlsbie? doubtst thou of thy life? A venie man: faire Margret craues so much. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. i. i. 296, I bruiz'd my shin..with playing at Sword and Dagger with a Master of Fence (three veneys for a dish of stew'd Prunes). 1615 Heywood Foure Prentises i. i, I am no sooner got into the fencing-school To play a venie with some friend [etc.]. 1673 Jackson's Wks. III. 134, I had a Venie or 'Bout for it, and the Intent, though not the Hap, to kill him. |
| fig. 1606 Dekker Seven Sins iii. (Arb.) 28 One Vennie more with thee, and then I haue done. 1618 G. Mynshul Ess. & Charac. Prison, Jailers 34 One Venny more, and if that hit, so, if not..I will lay downe the Bucklers. 1644 Sir E. Dering Prop. Sacr. Pref. c, And now, my sacrificing Jesuite, stand forth and let us occasionally here try a veny. |
3. south. dial. (See quots.)
| 1746 Exmoor Scolding (E.D.S.) 139 Dist hire ma, Dem? Chell ha tether Vinny wi' tha. Ibid. Gloss., Vinny,..a scolding Bout. 1881 Isle of Wight Gloss. 11 Finney, a frolic; to have to do with. ‘I'll hey a bit of a finney at that’; I'll have something to do with that. |