venerable

/ˈve-nər(-ə)-bəl/

Middle English, borrowed from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French, borrowed from Latin venerābilis "entitled to respect," from venerārī "to solicit the good will of (a deity), hold in awe, venerate-bilis "capable of (acting or being acted upon)"

adjective

  1. calling forth respect through age, character, and attainments; broadly : conveying an impression of aged goodness and benevolence

  2. impressive by reason of age

  3. 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

a venerable jazz musician

under venerable pines

old ancient venerable antique antiquated archaic obsolete mean having come into existence or use in the more or less distant past. old may apply to either actual or merely relative length of existence. ancient applies to occurrence, existence, or use in or survival from the distant past.

biographical name

  1. Saint circa 672—735 the Venerable Bede Anglo-Saxon scholar, historian, and theologian