Ven"er*a*ble (?), a. [L. venerabilis: cf. F. vénérable.]
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.
&fist; 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.
Hear it pronounced