venerable

See also: Venerable and vénérable

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvɛnəɹəbl/, /ˈvɛnɹəbl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

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: honorable, respectable

   Antonym: contemptible

   • 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 194, column 1:

     We looked at the venerable stream not in the vivid flush of a short day that comes and departs for ever, but in the pacific yet august light of abiding memories.

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.

Translations

commanding respect because of age, dignity, character or position

Azerbaijani: qocaman Bulgarian: уважаван (bg) (uvažavan) Chinese: Mandarin: 德高望重的 (zh) (dégāowàngzhòng de) Finnish: kunnioitettava (fi) Galician: respetábel Georgian: საპატიო (saṗaṭio), პატივსაცემი (ṗaṭivsacemi) German: ehrwürdig (de), geschätzt (de), respektabel (de) Hungarian: patinás (hu), tiszteletet ébresztő/parancsoló Icelandic: virðulegur (is), æruverðugur, (commanding respect) sem vekur virðingu (is) Italian: venerabile (it), venerando (it), onorevole (it), rispettabile (it) Kazakh: абзал (kk) (abzal) Macedonian: почи́туван (počítuvan), у́важен (úvažen) Polish: szacowny (pl), czcigodny (pl) Russian: уважа́емый (ru) (uvažájemyj) Spanish: venerable (es) Swedish: respektabel (sv), vördad Telugu: పూజ్యము (te) (pūjyamu) Turkish: muhterem (tr)

worthy of reverence

Bulgarian: почитан (bg) (počitan) Chinese: Mandarin: 可敬 (zh) (kějìng) Finnish: kunnioitettava (fi) Galician: venerábel (gl) Georgian: ღირსი (ɣirsi), საპატიო (saṗaṭio), პატივსაცემი (ṗaṭivsacemi) German: verehrenswert, verehrungswürdig (de) Greek: Ancient: σεβαστός (sebastós) Hungarian: tiszteletre méltó Icelandic: virðulegur (is), æruverðugur, (commanding respect) sem vekur virðingu (is) Japanese: 敬うべき (ja) (uyamau beki), 崇高な (ja) (sūko na), 立派な (ja) (rippa na) Kazakh: абзал (kk) (abzal) Macedonian: почи́туван (počítuvan), до́стоен (dóstoen) Polish: czcigodny (pl) Russian: достопочтенный (ru) (dostopočtennyj) Swedish: ärevördig Turkish: saygıdeğer (tr)

ancient, antiquated or archaic

Finnish: vanhanaikainen (fi) Georgian: ძველი (ʒveli) German: veraltet (de), anachronistisch (de), archaisch (de) Hungarian: ősi (hu), ódon (hu) Macedonian: дре́вен (dréven) Polish: sędziwy (pl) Russian: дре́вний (ru) (drévnij) Swedish: ärevördig

sacred by association

Bulgarian: преподобен (prepodoben) Georgian: ღირსი (ɣirsi) German: geheiligt (de) Hungarian: tisztelendő (hu), nagytiszteletű (hu), tiszteletre méltó Italian: sacro (it), sacra (it)

radiating goodness and benevolence

Georgian: მოწყალე (moc̣q̇ale) German: gütig (de) Macedonian: ми́лостив (mílostiv) Russian: милостивый (ru) (milostivyj) Ukrainian: пошти́вний (poštývnyj)

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin venerābilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [bə.nəˈɾab.blə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [və.nəˈɾab.blə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ve.neˈɾa.ble]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Adjective

venerable m or f (masculine and feminine plural venerables)

1. venerable

Derived terms

• venerablement

Related terms

• venerabilitat
• venerar

Further reading

• “venerable”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “venerable”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “venerable” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “venerable” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin venerābilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /beneˈɾable/ [be.neˈɾa.β̞le]
• Rhymes: -able
• Syllabification: ve‧ne‧ra‧ble

Adjective

venerable m or f (masculine and feminine plural venerables)

1. venerable

Derived terms

• venerablemente

Related terms

• venerar

Further reading

• “venerable”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024