| venerable | 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. 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 recognised degrees of sanctity, but are not among the beatified, nor the canonised. Ven"erableness, Ven"erably. Origin: L. Venerabilis: cf. F. Venerable. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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