Meaning & use
Venetian
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivebefore a noun
Relating to Venice, Italy, or to its people, culture, history, or style.
Grammar: Used before a noun: a Venetian palace, not “a palace Venetian.”
Patterns
- Venetian + noun
- relating to Venice
The guide explained how Venetian merchants financed voyages across the Mediterranean.
We photographed the Venetian Gothic windows of the old palace.
Her cookbook includes a simple Venetian recipe for seafood risotto.
nouncountable
A person who comes from Venice or lives there.
Grammar: Countable: one Venetian, two Venetians; the plural can mean the people as a group.
Patterns
- a Venetian
- the Venetians
A Venetian at the hostel recommended arriving before sunrise to avoid the crowds.
The Venetians we met were candid about the pressure of tourism on daily life.
Word forms
| plural | Venetians |
|---|
Common combinations
- Venetian glass
- The museum labels identify the bowl as seventeenth-century Venetian glass.
- Venetian architecture
- The arcade is admired for its Venetian architecture and pale stone facade.
- Venetian canals
- Electric boats now serve some commuter routes along the Venetian canals.
- venetian blind
- She tilted the venetian blind to soften the glare on her laptop screen.
- Venetian mask
- A paper-mache Venetian mask hung above the theater ticket booth.
Commonly confused: Venetian or Veneto? Venetian or Venusian?
Venetian vs Veneto
Veneto is the wider region around Venice, while Venetian points to the city or its associated style.
Venetian vs Venusian
Venusian relates to the planet Venus; Venetian relates to Venice, despite the similar rhythm.
Practice
The museum’s new gallery displays ___ mosaics recovered from a flooded church near the lagoon.
Choose one answer.
The blank modifies the plural noun “mosaics,” so it needs the adjective Venetian. Venice is the place name, Veneto is a larger region, and Venetians is a plural noun meaning people.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “Venetian”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.