Online Etymology Dictionary

vegetarianism (n.): 1848, from vegetarian + -ism.
vegetate (v.): c. 1600, "to grow as plants do," perhaps a back-formation from vegetation, or from Latin vegetatus, past participle of vegetare "to enliven, to animate" (see vegetable (adj.)). Sense of "to lead a dull, empty, or stagnant life" is from 1740. Related: Vegetated; vegetating.
vegetation (n.): 1560s, "act of vegetating," from Middle French végétation and directly from Medieval Latin vegetationem (nominative vegetatio) "a quickening, action of growing," from vegetare "grow, quicken" (see vegetable). Meaning "plant life" first recorded 1727.
vegetative (adj.): late 14c., "endowed with the power of growth," from Old French vegetatif "(naturally) growing," from Medieval Latin vegetativus, from vegetat-, past participle stem of vegetare (see vegetable (adj.)). Middle English transferred sense was "characterized by growth." Modern pathological sense of "brain-dead, lacking intellectual activity, mentally inert" is from 1893, via notion of having only such functions which perform involuntarily or unconsciously and thus are likened to the processes of vegetable growth.
veggie (n.): slang shortening of vegetable (n.), 1976; earlier vegie (1955). Related: Veggies.
vehemence (n.): c. 1400, from Old French vehemence, veemence "forcefulness, violence, rashness" or directly from Latin vehementia "eagerness, strength," from stem of vehere (see vehement). Related: Vehemency.
vehement (adj.): early 15c., from Middle French vehement, veement "impetuous, ardent" (12c.), from Latin vehementem (nominative vehemens) "impetuous, eager, violent, furious, ardent, carried away," perhaps [Barnhart] from a lost present middle participle of vehere "to carry" (see vehicle). The other theory is that it represents vehe- "lacking, wanting" + mens "mind." Related: Vehemently.
vehicle (n.): 1610s, "a medium through which a drug or medicine is administered," also "any means of conveying or transmitting," from French véhicule (16c.), from Latin vehiculum "means of transport, vehicle, carriage, conveyance," from vehere "to bear, carry, convey," from PIE *wegh- "to go, transport in a vehicle" (source also of Old English wegan "to carry;" Old Norse vegr, Old High German weg "way;" Middle Dutch wagen "wagon;" see wagon). Sense of "cart or other conveyance" in English first recorded 1650s.
vehicular (adj.): "pertaining to vehicles," 1610s, from Late Latin vehicularis, from vehiculum "a vehicle" (see vehicle).
veil (n.): c. 1200, "nun's head covering," from Anglo-French and Old North French veil (12c., Modern French voile) "a head-covering," also "a sail, a curtain," from Latin vela, plural of velum "sail, curtain, covering," from PIE root *weg- (1) "to weave a web." Vela was mistaken in Vulgar Latin for a feminine singular noun. To take the veil "become a nun" is attested from early 14c.
veil (v.): late 14c., from Old French veler, voiller (12c.), from Latin velare "to cover, veil," from velum "a cloth, covering, curtain, veil," literally "a sail" (see veil (n.)). Figurative sense of "to conceal, mask, disguise" (something immaterial) is recorded from 1530s. Related: Veiled; veiling.
vein (n.): c. 1300, from Old French veine "vein, artery, pulse" (12c.), from Latin vena "a blood vessel," also "a water course, a vein of metal, a person's natural ability or interest," of unknown origin. The mining sense is attested in English from late 14c. (Greek phleps "vein" had the same secondary sense). Figurative sense of "strain or intermixture" (of some quality) is recorded from 1560s; that of "a humor or mood, natural tendency" is first recorded 1570s.
vel sim.: abbreviation of Latin vel similia "or the like, or similar ones."
velar (adj.): 1726, from Latin velaris, from velum "sail, curtain" (see veil (n.)). Originally an architect's term for a type of cupola resembling a swelling sail; phonetics sense is from 1876, on notion of "pertaining to the velum," the anatomist's name for the soft palate (velum in this sense is attested from 1771, in full velum palati). The noun meaning "a velar guttural" is recorded from 1886.
Velcro (n.): 1958, proprietary name (Britain), from French vel(ours) cro(ché) "hooked velvet."
Here is a nonmetallic fastener with no mechanical parts. It is simply two strips of nylon, one woven with thousands of tiny protruding hooks, the other with loops. Pressed together, they catch like a burr to clothing, can't be parted except by peeling. American Velcro, Manchester, N.H., makes them to hold anything from pants to upholstery. ["Popular Science," December 1958]
veld (n.): see veldt.
veldt (n.): also veld, South African grassland, 1785, from Afrikaans, from older Dutch veld "field;" related to English field (n.).
velleity (n.): "volition in the weakest form; an indolent or inactive wish," 1610s, from Medieval Latin stem of velleitas (from Latin velle "to wish, will;" see will (v.)) + -ity.
vellum (n.): early 15c., from Old French velin "parchment made from calfskin" (13c.), from vel, veel "calf" (see veal).
velocipede (n.): 1819, "wheeled vehicle propelled by alternate thrusts of each foot on the ground," 1819, from French vélocipède (19c.), from Latin velox (genitive velocis) "swift, speedy" (see velocity) + pedem, accusative of pes "foot," from PIE root *ped- (1) "a foot" (see foot (n.)). The mechanical ancestor of the bicycle, it was tinkered with and improved; the name continued for some time and was applied to an early kind of modern bicycle or tricycle from 1849. See bicycle (n.).
The Velocipede has been introduced into England, under letters patent, by Mr. Johnson, a coachmaker in Long-Acre, by whom it has been greatly improved, both in lightness and strength. "The road from Ipswich to Whitton," says the Bury paper, "is travelled every evening by several pedestrian hobby-horses; no less than six are seen at a time, and the distance, which is 3 miles, is performed in 15 minutes." ["The Athenaeum," May 1, 1819]
velociraptor (n.): 1924, from Latin velox (genitive velocis) "swift, speedy" (see velocity) + raptor "robber" (see raptor). Fossil remains discovered in 1923 in the red Djadochta sandstone at Shabarakh Usu in Mongolia.
The first (Fig. 1) of the typical megalosaurian type, although of small size, seems to have been an alert, swift-moving carnivorous dinosaur to which the generic name Velociraptor is applied. [Henry Fairfield Osborn, "Three New Therapoda, Protoceratops Zone, Central Mongolia," in "American Museum Novitates," Nov., 7, 1924]
velocity (n.): early 15c., from Latin velocitatem (nominative velocitas) "swiftness, speed," from velox (genitive velocis) "swift, speedy, rapid, quick," of uncertain origin, perhaps related to vehere "carry" (see vehicle), or from the same root as vigil.
velodrome (n.): "building for bicycle races," 1892, from French vélodrome, from vélo, colloquial abbreviation of vélocipède (see velocipede) + -drome, as in hippodrome.
velour (n.): 1706, also velure, velours, from French velours "velvet," from Old French velor, alteration of velos "velvet," from Old Provençal velos, from Latin villosus (adj.) "shaggy, hairy, rough" (in Medieval Latin "velvet"), from villus "shaggy hair, tuft of hair" (see velvet).
Velox (n.): type of photographic print paper made by a process patented 1893 by Leo Baekeland, who sold it to George Eastman in 1899 for $1 million and used the money to build the laboratory where he made great discoveries in plastics (see Bakelite).
velum (n.): "the soft palate," 1771, from Latin velum "a sail, awning, curtain, covering" (see veil (n.)).
velvet (n.): early 14c., probably from Old Provençal veluet, from Vulgar Latin *villutittus, diminutive of Vulgar Latin *villutus "velvet," literally "shaggy cloth," from Latin villus "shaggy hair, nap of cloth, tuft of hair," probably a dialectal variant of vellus "fleece," from PIE *wel-no-, suffixed form of root *wel- (4) "to tear, pull" (see svelte).
velveteen (n.): imitation velvet (made with cotton in place of silk), 1776, from velvet + commercial suffix -een (variant of -ine).
velvety (adj.): 1712, from velvet + -y (2). Related: Velvetiness.
ven.: abbreviation of venerable.
vena cava (n.): Medical Latin, from Latin vena "vein" (see vein) + cava, from cavus "hollow" (see cave (n.)).
venal (adj.): 1650s, "capable of being obtained for a price; that can be corrupted;" 1660s, "offered for sale," from French vénal, Old French venel "for sale" (of prostitutes, etc.; 12c.), from Latin venalis "for sale, to be sold; capable of being bribed," from venum (nominative *venus) "for sale," from PIE root *wes- (1) "to buy, sell" (source also of Sanskrit vasnah "purchase money," vasnam "reward," vasnayati "he bargains, haggles;" Greek onos "price paid, purchase," oneisthai "to buy"). Typically with a bad sense of "ready to sell one's services or influence for money and from sordid motives; to be bought basely or meanly."
venality (n.): 1610s, from French vénalité or directly from Late Latin venalitatem (nominative venalitas) "capability of being bought," from Latin venalis "capable of being bought" (see venal).
venation (n.): "arrangement of veins," 1640s, of plant structures, noun of state from Latin vena "vein" (see vein). Related: Venational.
vend (v.): 1620s, from Latin vendere "to sell, give for a bribe; praise, cry up," contraction of venumdare "offer for sale," from venum "for sale" (see venal) + dare "to give" (see date (n.1)). Related: Vended; vending; vendible (early 14c.). Vending machine is recorded from 1889.
vendee (n.): "person to whom something is sold," 1540s; see vend (v.) + -ee.
Vendee: department of western France, French Vendée, named for the river through it, which is perhaps from Gaulish vindos "white." Especially in reference to the insurrection there against the Republic in 1793. Related: Vendean.
vender (n.): 1590s, agent noun in native form from vend (v.).
vendetta (n.): "a private war in which a kinsman wreaks vengeance on the slayer of a relative," 1846, from Italian vendetta "a feud, blood feud," from Latin vindicta "vengeance, revenge" (see vindictive). Especially associated with Corsica.
vendor (n.): 1590s, from late Anglo-French vendor, from vendre "to vend," from Latin vendere "to sell" (see vend). More common in legal use than vender.
vendue (n.): "public sale, auction," 1680s, from Dutch vendu, from obsolete French vendue "sale, selling price," from vendre "to sell," from Latin vendere (see vend).
veneer (n.): 1702, from German Furnier, from furnieren "to cover with a veneer, inlay," from French fournir "to furnish, accomplish," from Middle French fornir "to furnish," from a Germanic source (compare Old High German frumjan "to provide;" see furnish). From German to French to German to English. Figurative sense of "mere outward show of some good quality" is attested from 1868.
veneer (v.): 1728 (earlier fineer, 1708), from German furnieren (see veneer (n.)). Related: Veneered; veneering.
venerable (adj.): early 15c., "worthy of respect," from Old French venerable and directly from Latin venerabilis "worthy of reverence or respect," from venerari "to worship, revere" (see veneration). As a title, used in reference to ecclesiastics (in the Anglican church, specifically of archdeacons) or those who had obtained the first degree of canonization. Related: Venerably; venerability.
venerate (v.): 1620s, back-formation from veneration, or else from Latin veneratus, past participle of venerari "to reverence, worship." Related: Venerated; venerating.
veneration (n.): early 15c., from Old French veneracion, from Latin venerationem (nominative veneratio) "reverence, profoundest respect," noun of action from past participle stem of venerari "to worship, revere," from venus (genitive veneris) "beauty, love, desire" (see Venus).
venereal (adj.): early 15c., "of or pertaining to sexual desire or intercourse," from Latin venereus, venerius "of Venus; of sexual love," from venus (genitive veneris) "sexual love, sexual desire" (see Venus). Used of sexually transmitted diseases from 1650s. Related: Venereally.
venery (n.1): "pursuit of sexual pleasure," mid-15c., from Medieval Latin veneria "sexual intercourse," from Latin venus (genitive veneris) "sexual love, sexual desire" (see Venus). In earlier use it may have been felt as a play on now obsolete homonym venery (n.2) "practice or sport of hunting, the chase." Related: Venereous.
venery (n.2): "hunting, the sports of the chase," early 14c., from Old French venerie, from Medieval Latin venaria "beasts of the chase, game," from Latin venari "to hunt, pursue" (see venison).
Venetian (n.): early 15c., "native or resident of Venice," from Medieval Latin Venetianus, from Venetia (see Venice). Also probably in part from Old French Venicien. As a kind of dress cloth, from 1710. As an adjective from 1550s. Venetian blinds so called by 1791.