Adjacent Words

Venerable definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

VEN'ERABLE, a. [L. venerabilis, from veneror, to honor, to worship.]
1. Worthy of veneration or reverence; deserving of honor and respect; as a venerable magistrate; a venerable parent.
2. Rendered sacred by religious associations, or being consecrated to God and to his worship; to be regarded with awe and treated with reverence; as the venerable walls of a temple or church.
The places where saints have suffered for the testimony of Christ - rendered venerable by their death.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: impressive by reason of age; "a venerable sage with white hair and beard"
2: profoundly honored; "revered holy men" [syn: august, revered, venerable]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Date: 15th century 1. deserving to be venerated — used as a title for an Anglican archdeacon or for a Roman Catholic who has been accorded the lowest of three degrees of recognition for sanctity 2. made sacred especially by religious or historical association 3. a. calling forth respect through age, character, and attainments <a venerable jazz musician>; broadly conveying an impression of aged goodness and benevolence <encouraged by the venerable doctor's head-nodding> b. impressive by reason of age <under venerable pines> Synonyms: see old • venerability noun • venerableness noun • venerably adverb

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 entitled to veneration on account of character, age, associations, etc. (a venerable priest; venerable relics). 2 as the title of an archdeacon in the Church of England. 3 RC Ch. as the title of a deceased person who has attained a certain degree of sanctity but has not been fully beatified or canonized. Derivatives: venerability n. venerableness n. venerably adv. Etymology: ME f. OF venerable or L venerabilis (as VENERATE)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Venerable Ven"er*a*ble, a. [L. venerabilis: cf. F. v['e]n['e]rable.] 1. Capable of being venerated; worthy of veneration or reverence; deserving of honor and respect; -- generally implying an advanced age; as, a venerable magistrate; a venerable parent. He was a man of eternal self-sacrifice, and that is always venerable. --De Quincey. Venerable men! you have come down to us from a former generation. --D. Webster. 2. Rendered sacred by religious or other associations; that should be regarded with awe and treated with reverence; as, the venerable walls of a temple or a church. Note: This word is employed in the Church of England as a title for an archdeacon. In the Roman Catholic Church, venerable is applied to those who have attained to the lowest of the three recognized degrees of sanctity, but are not among the beatified, nor the canonized. -- Ven"er*a*ble*ness, n. -- Ven"er*a*bly, adv.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. A venerable person deserves respect because they are old and wise. ...a venerable old man with white hair. ADJ: usu ADJ n 2. Something that is venerable is impressive because it is old or important historically. May Day has become a venerable institution... ADJ: usu ADJ n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. To be venerated, worthy of veneration, grave. 2. Dread, awful, dreadful.

Moby Thesaurus

acknowledged, admirable, admitted, advanced, advanced in life, advanced in years, age-old, aged, ageless, along in years, ancient, antediluvian, antique, aristocratic, august, auld, awe-inspiring, awesome, awful, conventional, courtly, creditable, customary, dateless, dignified, divine, dreadful, elderly, established, esteemed, estimable, fixed, folk, grand, grave, gray, gray with age, gray-haired, gray-headed, grown old, hallowed, handed down, heavenly, held in esteem, heroic, highly esteemed, highly regarded, highly reputed, highly respectable, hoar, hoary, holy, honorable, honored, immemorial, imposing, impressive, in favor, in good odor, in high favor, ineffable, inenarrable, inexpressible, inveterate, inviolable, inviolate, kingly, legendary, long-established, long-standing, lordly, magisterial, majestic, meritorious, mythological, noble, numinous, of long standing, of old, of the folk, of yore, old, old as Methuselah, old as history, old as time, old-time, olden, oral, patriarchal, prescriptive, prestigious, princely, queenly, received, recognized, regal, religious, reputable, respectable, respected, revered, reverenced, reverend, reverential, rooted, royal, sacred, sacrosanct, sedate, senectuous, sober, solemn, spiritual, stately, statuesque, time-honored, timeless, timeworn, traditional, tried and true, true-blue, understood, unspeakable, untouchable, unutterable, unwritten, venerated, well-thought-of, white, white with age, white-bearded, white-crowned, white-haired, worshipful, worthy, wrinkled, wrinkly, years old