venerable - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Middle French vénérable, from Old French, from Latin venerabilis.

venerable (comparative more venerable, superlative most venerable)

  1. Commanding respect because of age, dignity, character or position.
    • 2013 July 20, “The attack of the MOOCs”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:
      Dotcom mania was slow in coming to higher education, but now it has the venerable industry firmly in its grip. Since the launch early last year of Udacity and Coursera, two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations.
  2. Worthy of reverence.
    Synonyms: estimable, honorable, respectable
    Antonym: contemptible
  3. Ancient, antiquated or archaic.
    Synonyms: aged, dated, hoary; see also Thesaurus:old, Thesaurus:obsolete
    • 1894 December – 1895 November, Thomas Hardy, chapter VI, in Jude the Obscure, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], published 1896, →OCLC, part V (At Aldbrickham and Elswhere), page 360:
      And then bills were sent in, and the question arose, what could Jude do with his great-aunt's heavy old furniture if he left the town to travel he knew not whither? This, and the necessity of ready money, compelled him to decide on an auction, much as he would have preferred to keep the venerable goods.
  4. Made sacred especially by religious or historical association.
  5. Giving an impression of aged goodness and benevolence.

commanding respect because of age, dignity, character or position

worthy of reverence

ancient, antiquated or archaic

Borrowed from Latin venerābilis.

venerable m or f (masculine and feminine plural venerables)

  1. venerable

From Latin venerābilis.

venerable m or f (masculine and feminine plural venerables)

  1. venerable