[ven.ter] n [AF, fr. L, belly, womb; perh. akin to OHG wanast paunch, L vesica bladder, Skt vasti] (1544) 1: a wife or mother that is a source of offspring
2: a protuberant and often hollow anatomical structure: as a: the undersurface of the abdomen of an arthropod b: the swollen basal portion of an archegonium in which an egg develops