means A toxic fluid produced by certain animals — snakes, spiders, scorpions — and injected through a bite or sting to harm prey or predators; figuratively, bitter spite or malice.

from From Latin 'venenum,' meaning poison or a magic potion — and here's the twist: 'venenum' is thought to descend from the same root as 'Venus,' the goddess of love, via an older sense of 'love-potion' or 'charm.' Love-philtres and poisons were close kin in the ancient imagination, both potent brews that could change a person from the inside out. The word slipped into English through Old French 'venim/venin' in the medieval period, picking up its spiteful figurative sense along the way.