different between assail vs venality

English

Etymology

From Middle English assailen, from Old French asaillir, from Latin assili?, from ad (“towards”) + sali? (“to jump”). See also assault.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??se?l/
• Rhymes: -e?l

Verb

assail (third-person singular simple present assails, present participle assailing, simple past and past participle assailed)

1. (transitive) To attack with harsh words or violent force (also figuratively).
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, London: William Ponsonby, Book 1, Canto 6, pp. 76-77,^[1]

     With greedy force he gan the fort assayle,

     Whereof he weend possesse soone to bee,

     And win rich spoile of ransackt chastitee.

   • c. 1600, William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act I, Scene 1,^[2]

     […] let us once again assail your ears,

     That are so fortified against our story,

     What we two nights have seen.

   • 1897, Saki, “The Story-teller” in Beasts and Super-beasts, London: John Lane, 1914, p. 238,^[3]

     “ […] for the next six months or so those children will assail her in public with demands for an improper story!”

   • 1942, Zora Neale Hurston, Dust Tracks on a Road, New York: Arno Press and The New York Times, 1969, Chapter 14, p. 258,^[4]

     We got married immediately after I finished my work […] which should have been the happiest day of my life. […] ¶ But, it was not my happiest day. I was assailed by doubts.

   • 2007, Ng?g? wa Thiong’o, Wizard of the Crow, Nairobo: East African Educational Publishers, Book 2, Chapter 3, p. 64,^[5]

     He did not like being in crowds, foul smells galore assailing his nostrils.

Related terms

• assailable
• assailant
• assailer
• assailment
• assault
• reassail
• unassailed

Translations

Anagrams

• Alissa

English

Etymology

venal +? -ity, from French vénalité or Latin v?n?lit?s, from v?n?lis (“venal”), from v?num.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /v??næl?ti/

Noun

venality (countable and uncountable, plural venalities)

1. The fact or state of being for sale, especially with reference to bribes or corruption.
   • 1785, The Times, 17 Jan 1785, p.1 col. B

     As your spirited paper has declared war, not only against venality and despotism, but was intended to correct follies and abuses in private life, I hope the following will come within its useful plan.

Usage notes

Not to be confused with veniality (mildly wrong behavior).

Translations

Anagrams

• natively