What does venus mean?
Venus is most familiar as the Roman goddess of love and beauty and as the second planet from the Sun, both written with an initial capital letter. The lower-case common noun has two largely dated uses. In tennis it can mean a score of zero, though the usual word for this is love; dictionaries also record it as a dated label for a sexually attractive woman. These senses should not be confused with the modern sense of the related English words venerate and venerable. In ordinary modern English, Venus most often refers to the deity or planet, while the common-noun uses survive mainly in reference works, historical writing, and deliberately traditional tennis vocabulary. The word is useful because it links classical mythology, planetary astronomy, and an unusual piece of sporting terminology: a score of zero carries a neat ironic association with the goddess of love.
nounAs a common noun, venus denotes a score of zero in tennis; in older or literary use, it can mean a sexually attractive woman. Venus also names the Roman goddess of love and beauty and the second planet from the Sun.
- The Roman goddess of love and beauty.
- The second planet from the Sun.
- A score of zero in tennis, now a rare or archaic use.
- A sexually attractive woman, in dated or literary usage.
"Venus rose above the western horizon shortly after sunset."
"Venus and the crescent moon were both visible in the evening sky."
"The older scorecard recorded forty to venus, a now-rare tennis term for zero."
This plural is uncommon and applies only to the lower-case common-noun senses; the names of the goddess and planet normally do not take a plural.
"The old scorecards used venuses in place of zeroes."
In tennis, venus means love—a score of zero, an especially fitting double edge for the Roman goddess of love.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does venus come from?
Venus comes from Latin Venus, Venēris, the name of the Roman goddess of love and beauty. The Latin name is commonly connected with a Proto-Italic root associated with desire or love, the same root traditionally associated with Latin venerari, “to reverence,” from which English venerate and venerable ultimately derive. The capitalised English senses preserve the classical proper name, while the lower-case sporting sense is a separate name for a score of zero.
Related word forms
How venus is actually used
In standard modern English, the goddess and planet are proper nouns and take an initial capital letter. Lower-case venus is uncommon: the tennis sense survives mainly in reference works and older sporting language, while the sense meaning an attractive woman is dated and may sound literary or objectifying.
Easily confused with venus
Venous means containing blood or relating to veins, whereas Venus names the goddess and planet or denotes the uncommon tennis score and dated meanings of the common noun.