1. the second nearest planet to the sun; it is peculiar in that its rotation is slow and retrograde (in the opposite sense of the Earth and all other planets except Uranus); it is visible from Earth as an early 'morning star' or an 'evening star' (Freq. 5) - before it was known that they were the same object the evening star was called Venus and the morning star was called Lucifer • Instance Hypernyms: terrestrial planet, inferior planet • Member Holonyms: solar system 2. goddess of love; counterpart of Greek Aphrodite (Freq. 1) • Syn: Urania • Instance Hypernyms: Roman deity 3. type genus of the family Veneridae: genus of edible clams with thick oval shells • Syn: genus Venus • Hypernyms: mollusk genus • Member Holonyms: Veneridae, family Veneridae • Member Meronyms: quahog, quahaug, hard-shell clam, hard clam, round clam, Venus mercenaria, Mercenaria mercenaria
